12 Memories
by lysser8312
Summary: AU. It seemed that at the age of two destiny already had a plan. As best friends, their relationship goes hectic, do they realize that they are fighting an uphill battle to stay apart? Mainly LP, but some NH and little BJ. COMPLETE
1. Prologue: MidLife Krysis

**Title: 12 Memories**

**Rating: PG-13**

**Disclaimer: I still cannot find anyway to claim anything of One Tree Hill or Travis. Sadly, I really have no possessions worth mentioning. **

**Summary: AU. It seemed that at the age of two destiny already had a plan. As best friends, their relationship goes hectic, do they realize that they're fighting an uphill battle to stay apart? Mainly L/P, but some N/H and little B/J.**

**Author's Note: Ok, so I know, I know there are a million other things I could be doing** **and a million other things I should be writing. I've got half an update written for The Saddest Song, working on some ideas for Lost in the Past and formulating the sequel, I had an update for Running Out of Time but computers don't cooperate, and Beach Girls has been last on my list recently. Sorry for all those who are reading that, but it kinda fell down the priority list. This came to me a while ago and I wrote this prologue forever ago. I actually have 2 or 3 more stories I've started but haven't gotten to posting. I think you'll like them when they get here. Anyhow, read on and tell me what you think. Enjoy...**

**Prologue - Mid-Life Krysis**

**She was only** nine. Nine years of life and the next nine would never, ever be the same. Her ninth year of life was the year her mother died, the year she was left alone, the year that would forever be burned in her mind. Yet, it seemed only one good thing from those nine years would carry over to the next, and the next, and the next, and the next...

* * *

– '_Memories fill your harbor, history to be made' – _

**Her life had** never moved in decades. It never really had the chance. She now saw her life moving in little sequences of nine. The only way to really get to the bottom of her life experiences though, would be to go back to the beginning. Back to when her only constant entered her life.

It had been decided that their first born would be friends. From the moment Anna Flynn and Karen Roe met, they were inseparable and somewhere in the four years of high school experience they shared, they made that decision. Karen met Dan Scott sophomore year, Anna met Larry Sawyer towards the middle of junior year. Both ended up pregnant in a span of six months of each other. The difference; Larry stayed and supported Anna, while Dan's older brother Keith stepped in to help Karen when Dan ran off to college.

Lucas Andrew Scott was born March 12, 1988. He was 8lbs., 6oz. and 21 inches long. It was obvious he would not know dan was his father until Karen made that decision. Keith offered to be his father and let Lucas believe he had been that man, but Karen refused to let him do so, she didn't want him to waste his life on them.

Peyton Nicole Sawyer was born July 21, 1988. She was 6lbs., 8oz. and 20 inches long. It was obvious she was going to have her daddy wrapped around her little finger. He was in awe of her little figure and in love from the moment he saw her. Karen and Keith became her godparents and vice versa for Lucas. The children were introduced before either was six months old.

* * *

– '_Jealousy in the cupboard, you with me to the grave' – _

**The first two **years were a new found hell for the two young mothers. The two small children wanted absolutely _nothing_ to do with each other. There was crying, biting, pinching, hitting, pushing. It became nearly impossible for Karen and Anna to see each other.

June made its way in, Lucas' second birthday had just passed in March and Peyton's was quickly approaching. The two girls decided to give the play date one last try in a desperate attempt to salvage their friendship. A two year old Lucas wandered through the park in his cargo shorts and Nike's, awaiting the little girl's arrival. The blonde toddler came scrambling into the park at full speed, headed for the sandbox, Lucas took notice and followed blindly. The mothers spent the next four hours at the park trying to coerce the children into going home. That was Peyton's first sleep over, Karen took her home, allowing Larry and Anna some much needed alone time. From that day on, the two blondes remained inseparable.

The toddlers grew up together. Going to birthday parties, having water balloon fights, sleep overs, anything else you can dream of, they did. At six, Nathan was revealed to the little boy. Dan had made it clear that his two sons were not to interact with each other. Karen and Deb made it clear that their two little boys would be friends and in each others lives. Peyton met Haley that same year. Haley James was the smart, witty little girl who managed to gain a place in Peyton's heart. The four children formed a tight friendship, though it never approached the bond Lucas and Peyton still shared.

* * *

– '_Mid-life krysis, you invited everyone, you can't win' – _

**A year later**, Brooke Davis moved to Tree Hill, partaking in the small circle of friends, as did a mini Jake Jaglieski. At seven years old Nathan and Jake firmly insisted that Peyton, Haley, and Brooke were sure to have the dreaded disease, cooties. They urged Lucas to stay away. Granted, he may have listened and stayed away from Brooke and Haley, but he didn't even try to keep away from Peyton. She was his best friend, he couldn't leave her behind. Brooke and Haley warned her, told her boys were gross, that she should keep her distance. She didn't go near Jake and Nathan, but Lucas wasn't a _boy_, he was her best friend.

"They said you had cooties," they told each other in unison. Lucas cracked a crooked smile as Peyton erupted into a fit of giggles. Minutes later Lucas spoke and looked over at his friend who sat on the opposite swing.

"I won't listen to them if you won't."

"Good, 'cause I wasn't gonna."

– '_You can't wake from this nightmare, ever day is like a movie' – _

June rolled in again and his ninth year had come and gone. They were in his room watching Jaws. Their favorite movie that week. It was that ninth year, that exact day their fantasy world would be flipped upside down. It was close to eight o'clock on a Saturday night and the phone startled Karen.

"Hello?"

"Karen...it's Larry," his words were almost incoherent, but she heard him.

"What happened? Where's Anna?" she has asked the question but the words that came from her mouth surprised her. She chalked it up to woman's intuition.

"Oh, God...Karen, her plane went down. There were no survivors," he choked on his words, almost not believing them as they fell out of his mouth.

"What!" she shrieked. Her best friend was gone. The world stopped moving, everything felt frozen. The air around her stopped circulating.

"I'm going out to Ohio, that's where it fell. Do you want to come?" his voice was broken, sentences muffled.

"Y-y-yea. I'll get Keith for the kids. Do you want me to tell Peyton? Or do you want to do it yourself?" He breathed a sigh. He hadn't even thought, his little girl. She had no mother.

"Don't answer. I'll do it," the young woman responded to her own question. He grunted and she told him her plans before calling Keith and venturing to her son's room.

* * *

– '_Third world war on the rise, don't take it in the city, making love - to get high, mid-life krysis' – _

**Warily, Karen made** her way through Lucas' door to find the two children jumping on his bed, laughing at their antics.

"Don't fall off! Jaws will eat you!" the little boy warned his best friend. Karen's heart tore a little more upon watching Peyton smile, that smile would never be the same.

"Peyton...can I see you for a minute?"

"Sure, Karen! Be right back, Luke." The older woman watched his expressions. He looked puzzled and Karen silently prayed that he would prove he was her best friend by being there for her.

Karen sat the blonde down, not even remotely trying to step the waterfall of tears.

"What happened?" Peyton questioned the older woman in front of her. Something was definitely wrong.

"Oh, Peyton. There was a plane crash -"

"NO!" Karen watched the horror flicker in her eyes. "NO! My mom is fine!" Peyton quickly stood and took off running. Not home, she couldn't go home. Her father was home and seeing him in pain would make it all real.

Lucas stuck his blonde head through the doorway in time to see the curls fly through the front door and out into the warm night.

"Mom! What happened!" he ran to his mother, begging for an answer.

"Her mom's plane -" before she could finish her sentence her ten year old was following the footsteps the little girl had just set. She heaved a sigh before going to pack and wait for Keith. Then once again bursting into tears as she saw the picture that sat on the shelf of her best friend.

* * *

– '_You invited everyone, you can't win, you can't wake from this nightmare' – _

**The night was** relatively warm, inviting people outside for barbeques. Most people in the neighborhood remained outside, watching Lucas run towards an unknown destination. The downpour started as his feet hit the wet grass of the Rivercourt. He didn't expect to find her there, it had more or less always been his spot. Though, he knew she wouldn't have gone home.

She remained in her spot, direct middle of the court. Her knees pulled up to her chest, letting her chin rest on top. Her little red eyes were visible, even from where he stood. He crossed over to her, not talking, just crouching down to her eye level.

"Why?" she whispered, turning her head away from him.

"I dunno." A beat of silence in the rain. Her hair flattened against her head. She was only nine, but seemed wise beyond her years by then.

"What're you doing here?" he asked softly, awaiting her answer.

"I knew you'd come here...but no one else would," he smiled at her words. She was his very best friend. He sat himself down beside her, not having anything more to say. She just leaned against him and cried. He watched, feeling horrible that she was in pain, his buddy, forever. For years after, that would still prove to be true.

**Tell me if you liked it or not and if you would want me to continue. The next chapter I have written and would pick up when they're like 17 and 16. It'll deal with a few things but don't worry, I've got a plan. Keep a look out for an update for The Saddest Song. And my others too! The song used was "Mid-Life Krysis" by Travis. Review!**


	2. Somewhere Else

**12 Memories**

**Chapter 1 - Somewhere Else**

**A/N - **Thanks a lot for all of those awesome reviews! I think that's the most I've ever gotten for one chapter of something. It probably surpassed the first chapter of Running Out of Time. By the way, that is now **completed **and the third chapter was just posted. I should be updating Lost in the Past but I've had this update written since I wrote the prologue so this is easier to type up and post. So, here is Chapter 1 of 12 Memories. Enjoy and review ;-)

– '_Home and away. Life goes on the same, we bury the pain' – _

**Now, here they** were at seventeen, and sixteen, still best friends, still clinging to the familiarity of their friendship. Lucas had a girlfriend, and Peyton had a boy friend, but that had yet to change _anything_. It was the end of March, ending their sophomore year quicker than expected.

"How ya doin?" he walked up to her locker where Jake had just left seconds before.

"Peachy, Lukey!" she responded, sarcastically as ever. He chuckled, she revealed a little smirk before things got serious.

"Seriously."

They began to walk through the crowded hallways, dodging the people to stay in conversation. Though it had turned into more of a problem to keep up with each other than had been previously expected.

"Ugh, seriously?" he nodded, "I'm doing...I'm falling apart, same as every other year when we get to these few months," he shook his head again, accepting her answer.

"Does Jake know?"

"Of course he knows. We've been friends with him forever. How would he not -"

"I just meant...is he helping you?" he was genuinely concerned with her condition, so she cut him some slack.

"He's trying. He wasn't really there though, so I guess he can't compete with you," she teased him, bumping her hip into his as he laughed.

"Yea, yea, that's me," he dead panned. "Now whaddya want?"

"What makes you think I want something?" she proceeded to act innocent as she walked beside him.

"Because you're doing that thing. That lemme act innocent and beg my best friend," he retorted, trying to explain her behavior, she just laughed.

"Ok, I surrender," she told him dramatically, "can we go to Wendy's?"

"Tonight?"

"Uh-huh, Jake has work and you don't wanna leave me all alone," she pouted.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to go so poor Peyton won't be _alone_! Oh the horror!" he grabbed his chest to add the drama and she shoved him in the arm. "Fine, I'll be there regular time."

"Woo!" she shouted with a little clap added. They turned the corner to enter the science classroom, laughing at her cheerleading move.

"Can I be invited to the Scott/Sawyer wedding?" the teacher questioned them, obviously aggravated with their lateness for the third time in a row.

* * *

– '_And hold onto love, hear the song, sing along, but what does it change?' – _

**She sat on** her computer chair, sketchbook in hand when a sweaty basketball player flopped onto her bed. He made sure to wiggle around for the best effect.

"Eww! I just washed them Luke!" she shooed him off, down the stairs and toward the front door.

"Isn't it a little late?" the older man questioned as he dragged his large suitcase in.

"Daddy!"

"Daddy!" Lucas yelled, mimicking her movements. He was quickly rewarded with a whack in the arm and a hug from the older Sawyer.

"Luke, get a shower next time," Larry warned, playfully and Peyton smiled in victory.

"Told ya!"

"Yea, yea. Guess you don't want food then," he walked to the door, while Larry watched on, amused with their friendship and childish behavior.

"No! No, wait! I'm sorry."

His eyes lit up in mock-fascination and they headed out the door as she jumped on his back and he groaned, slamming the door behind him. Larry didn't bother to ask where they were going. Late night Wendy's had been a ritual for the past 9 years, right after Anna died...

* * *

**The two kids** carried their trays to their usual window seat and proceeded to eat. Conversation flowed steadily all the while, never a moment of silence.

"Hard practice?" she teased, watching him inhale his first burger.

"Yea, what's your excuse?" he retorted, motioning to the pile of food in front of her, she just nodded silently.

"Hard life," she snapped back as they both cracked up.

"How embarrassing was this morning with Mrs. Zeppini?" he asked, watching her eyes light up along with the smile.

"We so played that off good!"

"Yea, we did! I grabbed your hand and you leaned over -"

"And you were like...well you missed it, but when we decide to renew the vows you'll be the first to know," she imitated his deep voice and laughed hysterically at the scene they had caused that morning. The teacher had not been happy with their response, sending them to the principal's office. They then played innocent, explaining the story in their own words, getting off with only a warning. They were experienced with things like that already.

* * *

– '_This life is so confusing, feels like I'm always losing' – _

**He watched her** exit the car, only to find Jake on the front steps. Her father had left again, calling to tell them he'd be back the next day.

"Where were you?" Jake spat, seemingly enraged.

"I was with Lucas at Wendy's. You know we've been doing that for years," she explained, watching him carefully. His eyes shifted quickly, and he was swaying slightly. "Oh, God, Jake. You're drunk."

"I'm not drunk. I had a _few_ drinks. Then, I was coming to see _my_ girlfriend, but you're always with him. Do you want him?...no, don't answer that...I don't wanna know, just -"

"He's my best friend!" she interrupted, defending the most important thing in her life.

"Damn it, Peyton! It's obvious you two are supposed to be together...I saw it coming. I was stupid, thinking I could make you love me. Ya know what, him or me, Peyton."

"What! You can't do that to me! You're my boyfriend, he's my best friend. You can't make me choose one of you -"

"No, Peyt, you don't wanna hurt me because you know you'd pick him, right! Huh? Tell me!" he was disgusted. Letting them continue to be friends wouldn't make his relationship work. He needed to know what she wanted. She was angry, quickly screaming her response.

"Yea, ok! I'd take him any day, is that what you wanna hear! Huh, Jake!"

He shook his head, just standing there watching her expressions, his heart breaking at the sight. The tears were falling donw her cheeksfrom his words.

"Why're you doing this?" she questioned softly. His eyes didn't soften, instead his stepped closer to her standing form. He looked at her menacingly, the alcohol mixing with his logic. He was pushed away by the taller blonde. He had been watching from the car, the scene made him nervous, something telling him not to leave.

"I don't need this! We're through, Peyton," he grumbled, stalking away, leaving his ex-girlfriend in the arms of Lucas.

"You ok?" she nodded, the tears burning the back of her eyes, the lump forming in her throat. "C'mon, come back to my house," she nodded once more and buckled herself into his passenger seat again. The brown haired boy watched them speed off, the pain still tearing at his now broken heart.

* * *

– '_We come in knowing everything, but don't say a word till they teach it away, words are found too close to the edge' – _

**They entered school** the next morning, greeted by Brooke and Haley.

"Hey boyfriend!" Brooke chirped, kissing him lightly before turning to Peyton.

"How're you, blondie?"

"So-so."

"Want us to kick his ass?" Haley added, eliciting a laugh from the blonde.

"That's my job," Lucas whined, making all three girls giggle. The rest of the day rolled smoothly, no run ins with Jake.

**Peyton and Haley** decided to shop, while Brooke spent the day with Lucas.

"So, Luke, where to today...how 'bout my house?" she answered her own question as he drove. Upon entering her empty house, she smashed his lips against her own, falling back into the leather sofa. She pulled her shirt off for him. Minutes later as she tugged on the waist band of his boxers his cell phone interrupted them.

"Ignore it," she whispered, her lips barely leaving his.

"I can't. What if it's my mom?"

He stood and walked to her kitchen, finally answering the phone where he could have privacy. Haley explained, frantically that they had bumped into Jake at the mall. He and Peyton had gotten into another fight, resulting in Jake screaming and Peyton collapsing in tears. Before she could finish the story he was getting his clothes back on and running out towards his truck.

"Where you going?" Brooke watched him, puzzled with his sudden behavior.

"Peyton needs me," he told the brunette, as she rolled her eyes with his typical answer. Ignoring the jealousy and somehow understanding Jake's disposition with the two blondes. Peyton always _needed_ him. Only Lucas Scott would get up and leave when he was offered sex from Brooke Davis. She'd find someone else. It was her only option as she lifted the phone from the cradle and dialed the not so familiar number.

– '_That we don't dare say, and this will turn into something else, something else, and when it does I'll be somewhere else' – _

**I was gonna add more, but I couldn't figure out what I needed after this and I'm still kinda debating on who I'm having Brooke call. For the record, Nathan and Haley are NOT together ... yet. Peyton and Lucas have been friends since they were 2 as the prologue said and it has been STRICTLY platonic, no feelings for each other at any point in time, no first kisses with each other, no weird looks or electric touches ... yet. The song in the chapter was Somewhere Else by Travis. So, we'll see how it goes, tell me what you thought through a review! **

_**Funny how their relationships crumble around them...they're the only thing that remains the same.**_


	3. How Many Hearts

**12 Memories**

**Chapter 2 - How Many Hearts**

**A/N - **Thanks a lot for your support with this story, I wasn't sure if it would catch on, but obviously people are into the plot. I am sorry for you Jake fans, he's kind of a jerk in this story, but I do have hopes to lighten his character up as things get resolved and less bitter between him and Peyton. Also Brooke may be a little bitchy here too, but she'll get better as things work their way out, as they often do. Anyway though, here's chapter 2. Read and enjoy ;-)

– '_**We are not strangers to ourselves; we only try to be' – **_

**The large mall** was crowded, but he wasted no time dodging people to get to the bench near the food court where Haley said they'd be waiting. He pushed through large masses, quickly spotting the curls from his position, heading towards them with speed. As he approached Peyton, she immediately flung herself into his willing, open arms. He tightened his grip, reinforcing the fact that he was there for her, no matter the circumstance. When Peyton finally detached herself from her best friend's arms, he draped an arm over her smaller shoulders, lending reassurance. Nathan walked in minutes later, finding Haley eating a pretzel while Lucas and Peyton stood in line, waiting for their chance to order.

* * *

– _How many hearts does it take to break, all of the bonds that young lovers make? Hoping to find the next golden egg' – _

**Sitting across from** each other on his queen size bed, he at the head while she watched him from the foot, he quietly began to talk. Cautiously approaching the matter at hand, he knew how to deal with her fragile state. They'd been friends for nearly fifteen years now, each having their own share of break-ups. He could vividly recall her first, Alex Beding, who had asked her out in the beginning of fifth grade. She was 11, still grieving with the loss of her mother, still vulnerable enough for a kid like Alex to come along and be a jerk, like 11 year old boys were.

**FLASHBACK**

_A state of complete overjoy had become of his best friend from the time she came to his house freaking out about her first boyfriend. He had smiled and hugged her, still thinking she didn't need a guy to make her happy. But he was her guy best friend, he kept his mouth shut and listened to her ramble on about Alex for the next hour. She kept going on and on about how sweet he was, how nice he had been, how he asked her to have lunch with him the next day. His little eyes reflected disappointment, she wasn't going to be at their lunch table the next day, she would be sitting with someone else, gracing someone else with her presence. For the first time in years, he wouldn't be having lunch with her._

_It was less than a week later that she ended up at his door, tears in her eyes. Not that she had loved him, or that there was any real connection, they were only 11. But because another person had left her in the dark, once again she was abandoned and alone, something he vowed to never allow again. She was at his back door, he welcomed her in where he handed her the box of tissues and sat with her for another hour. They spent that Friday night watching movies that he would've never watched otherwise. _

**END FLASHBACK

* * *

**

– '_One that will shine through the rest of time, and how many roads must there need to be, hoping inside, you could mean to me' – _

**Ever since then**, he'd been the one to put the pieces of her heart back together. It was a tiring job, she'd been through many break ups since fifth grade, but somewhere along the line they got easier. They got easier because she stopped putting her heart out there, she stopped giving them all of her, so when she broke the fall wasn't as far. But Jake had been different, she'd known him for years, she trusted him. Lucas knew from experience that her trust wasn't easily gained, this is why her descend had seemed so far this time, why her defeat brought her down so much farther than usual. Jake had taken the time to gain her trust, and with that trust she was vulnerable, this he knew, but he pushed her over the edge anyway. Sent her spiraling down into the black hole from which she climbed out of with all her strength every time someone took advantage of her weakness.

"What happened?" his question was quiet, she had been dreading it ever since he arrived at the mall. She wanted nothing more than to put it behind her, forget it ever happened. But he had never been like that, he was never one to avoid the topic at hand, he wanted to know everything. She couldn't help but wonder if he would be asking the question if he knew how much it would hurt to relive those events. She decided that he wouldn't, he was better than that, _'but he wasn't there'_ she reasoned with herself. She took another deep breath and began to talk herself through the memory.

"We were just sitting walking past one of his favorite stores, and there he was. Standing talking to one of the guys from the basketball team, but I was strong, Luke...I was," she insisted as her tears fell silently, she wiped at them furiously with the back of her hands, he scooted closer to her. He nodded, whispering that he believed her, pushing her lightly to continue.

"So, he came out, and I waved, I wanted to be the better person, ya know? And he just gave me a dirty look, so I was stupid, I got pissed at him for that, and I freaked out. I walked up to him and I spun him around and started yelling all this crap. He just rolled his eyes at me and went to walk away again. But he made me so mad and so I kept yelling, he turned around and came back toward me...God, the look in his eyes...he's so bitter. He's become so bitter, his parents are in the middle of a divorce, his grandpop just died, his eyes are so cold. It's like there's nothing left of him. He started yelling back, he got in my face again and Haley got up in front of him before he could get any closer to me. He started yelling at her too, so she slapped him. You shoulda seen her," a small smile graced Peyton's face, Lucas laughed too. He could picture Haley doing just that, she had never been one to take any crap, maybe that's why he knew his little brother was slowly falling for her.

"Wish I coulda seen that," Lucas made a remark, as Peyton prepared herself to continue.

"I wish I could've done it," her voice sounded hopeless and desperate. Something he rarely heard from her, something he hadn't heard since her mother died. He knew how much she had loved Jake, the sound he heard from her made him want to show Jake just how much he hurt her.

"You could've. You know that. Haley just has a little less class and a little more guts than the rest of us," his light attempt at a joke made her laugh, clearing her tears a little more.

* * *

– '_Open your mouth, build your sermon there, give me more time, do the best I can. Hopelessly hoping our plan will wake up, hoping it all will be fine' – _

**It had only **taken him minutes to know what would cheer her up, if only for a few hours. Just to make the pain subside for a little while. Her head had perked up as soon as he suggested it, immediately they both grabbed what they needed, heading out the door after telling Karen their plans.

His Uncle Bob on his mom's side lived a town away during the summer. In the winter his residence was in Florida. From the age of five he'd been told that his uncle needed sun and trees all year round, he hadn't cared about the reason, just the fact that there was a heated pool he could go swimming in during the winter. At five it was like a magic trick, he could recall going swimming in the snow, something that had amused him greatly enough to beg to go back every winter. It wasn't winter, but it wasn't summer either, leaving his uncle's place the only way to swim in the chilly weather of spring.

"Peyton, you take forever!" he knocked on the bathroom door for the fifth time in ten minutes, he'd been done, what seemed like hours ago. He always had been a little impatient.

"Okay, okay I'm done," she came sauntering out in sweat pants and a bikini top. He rolled his eyes as she strutted out of the house.

"Do you think you're cool or something?" he teased, knowing exactly what her reaction would be.

She looked back as he trailed behind in his shorts that were replacing the bathing suits he had in the attic. She scoffed at his attitude and whacked him in the chest. He feigned hurt as she slipped out of her sweat pants and stuck her foot in to feel the water, setting herself up. _'It's too easy' _he laughed quietly at her stupidity before stepping back and taking a running start to tackle her.

She knew what he was doing, he was the most predictable guy she had ever met. Swiftly at the last second she slid to the right, leaving him on his way into the pool, by himself. He came back up wet, gasping for air, his hair matted to his head. She stood, laughing hysterically at his drowned form while he swam to the side.

"I see someone's happy," she was still laughing, trying to breathe in between. He mocked her, before lifting himself from the pool and walking up to her.

"Luke...no!" she was still sucking in air, trying to recover from her fit of laughter. He literally swept her up off her feet and stood on the edge of the pool, holding her tightly to him.

"Please, Luke, I'll be nice," she pouted, sticking her bottom lip out to complete the act. He nodded, as though saying 'yea right'. Her hands held tightly around his neck, holding on for dear life. She learned once before not to let him throw her, last time he threw her she ended up on the other side of the pool with a nice red mark from hitting the water.

"Fine...if you throw me, I won't let go of you," she was very firm in her demands. He tried to throw her, nearly losing his balance as she clung to him. His second attempt remained futile, he finally put her down minutes later as she begged to go the bathroom.

When she walked back outside, still perfectly dry, he was nowhere in sight. She looked around, knowing he was planning something. Unwilling to fall victim to his evil scheme.

"Luke?" she whispered, unable to figure out why she was whispering. If she would've seen him rushing at her from the house, maybe she would've moved, but in this case, her back was to him. He came at full speed, letting his hands grab her waist, still moving forward to the pool.

"OH MY GOD!" her squeal made him laugh as they finally hit the water, falling to the bottom. He sat there, as did she, still staring at him, struggling to keep her eyes open in the chlorinated water. She stuck her tongue out at him before swimming to the top, breathing in the clear air that surrounded her. He remained at the bottom, still feeling no need for air yet. She began to worry, swimming back down to find his eyes closed, she panicked.

She grabbed his arm, struggling to get him to the top. As she broke the water he opened his eyes, taking a deep breath, and laughed. Her eyes were angry and hurt was visible again.

"You jerk!" she pulled herself out, unwilling to stay with him in that pool any longer. She wrapped herself in a warm towel, sat on a chair, and waited. They didn't fight much, not to say that it was a fight, but when they did it could last for a while. He was stubborn, so was she, their genes didn't provide for easy repentance.

* * *

– '_Holding our candles through weather or not, love be the enemy now, now for the rest of time' – _

**He could've sat **in the pool, been a jackass to her, but his judgement made a better decision for him. He walked up the stairs and made his way to the chair next to her. He hated when they weren't talking, it was like something was missing when they couldn't communicate.

"What did I do?" half of him said he knew, but the other half felt completely clueless. She raised her eyes to look at him, there were no tears as he had expected. She was pulling herself back together, that he was happy about.

"You know what you did."

"No, I don't," his statement was forceful, she scoffed at how stupid he could be.

"Yea, just sit at the bottom of the pool, eyes closed, no bubbles. I go to drag you up, you don't help at all, and you expect me to laugh it off? I thought you drowned or something...what would I do then? I have no other friends," she confessed. His eyes held a smile, though his face was straight.

"I wasn't drowning, just sitting. You know you have other friends, Nathan, Brooke, and Haley are your friends too, ya know?"

"Yea, but they're not you. I can act stupid with you, but with them...it's not the same."

"You know I wouldn't leave you," that smile had vanished, as he stared at her. Somehow convincing her with only one look that he wasn't going anywhere. It was a feeling of trust, something she didn't feel very often. No one ever made the promise not to leave, only her mother, so could she help it if she felt shaky as those words left his mouth?

"You can't promise that...my mom promised that," her voice was softer than usual. He almost regretted saying those words, the hopelessness had returned. That sound was something he thought he would get used to, especially after so many years, but hearing her so broken always left it's mark. Scarring her voice in his head, that sobs that had come year after year embedded into his head.

"But I do. Even if something happens to me there's always a piece of me with you, you know that. The same as your mom didn't break her promise, she's still with you, Peyt," he voiced his promise again, her eyes watering for what felt like the millionth time that day.

"Thank you...I don't know how you do it, but you always make me feel better around this time."

"I try," he flashed a cocky smirk, a half smile forming on her face.

"Your ego is bigger than that pool, Lucas Scott," she declared, he wiggled his eyebrows and she giggled, wiping her tears away.

"I think we should go back in," he stood, ran to the diving board, flipping off with precision.

"Is that the best you got?" she teased him from her spot on the diving board.

"Let's see you do it!"

She took a step back, making a running start for the water, flipping with skill, breaking the water cleanly, much better than the blonde who she called her best friend.

"Take that!" she called out in victory. He made faces at her, mumbling something incoherent under his breath.

* * *

– '_A long time ago, there was only me, and there was no rings eternally, won't be the same, no one to blame' – _

**It was nearing** ten o'clock when they entered Wendy's for the second time that week. The cashiers knew them on a first name basis by now. They ordered the usual, each taking their respective seats that no one else ever sat at - they had claimed it.

"Did you have fun?" he asked as she dipped a french fry in the ketchup.

"Yes, thank you for that."

"No problem...I have a question," he continued staring at her food, she looked up, half a french fry sticking out of her mouth still. He laughed before continuing.

"Why do you haveMount Everest of Ketchup for like the five fries you got?" She ate the rest of the food that had been protruding from her mouth before preparing to answer.

"Because I like ketchup, and it likes me, you're just jealous because you have no bond."

"Ok, yea sure. Whatever you say, Peyt," he shook his head, "besides only crazy people have bonds with ketchup," he added, mumbling under his breath with the knowledge that she would hear him. _'She's like a dog when it comes to hearing anyway'_

She chucked a ketchup covered french at his face, hitting him square in the nose, the ketchup dripping along his nose trailing to his mouth. She broke into another fit of laughter, pointing at him while he wiped his nose with a napkin.

"So, that's how you wanna play? Don't you worry, I'll get ya later," he warned, going back to the cheeseburger awaiting him. His mind ran through a million different scenarios to get her back, never once floating to his girlfriend or what she might be doing.

* * *

– '_No longer care, and you are, and you are a new age...hopelessly hoping our plan will wake up, hoping it all will be fine' – _

**He stepped into** her large house, staggering slightly from the alcohol now running through his veins. It had become a habit, something that settled him when everything else around was spinning out of control. He wasn't proud of what he was doing, but it seemed to be the only thing left, the only thing that hadn't died, left, or that he pushed out of his life.

"Hello," she whispered in his ear, her voice was raspy, wanting. His eyes filled with lust as he turned his head to her.

"Hey."

"You ready for this?" she questioned him, her voice still remaining low. He nodded adamantly, walking towards her, stumbling slightly. She led him through the house to her room, letting him take control as they crossed the doorway. He let his body weight push her backwards, moving her to the bed. She grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him down on top of her. His lips meeting hers, while she helped him with her shirt.

"I'm glad you came," he nodded, pulling his shirt over his head frantically. It seemed only seconds later she had no clothes to cover her, and he was left in his boxers. She tugged at the waist band, letting them slide off slowly, teasing him all the while. She pulled what she needed from her top drawer, handing it to him while he smirked. She was smarter than she looked.

Only minutes later as he pushed for the last time, she arched her back, muffled her scream against his shoulder and let go. He held her tightly against him, his body quickly sobering back up as he realized what he did. He knew it should've been a mistake, but as she laid in his arms he didn't feel the way he thought he would. Something felt okay, the first time he felt okay with himself in days.

"Can you stay?" her voice was small, almost as though she didn't want to ask him.

"Yea, Brooke, I'll stay," he answered her firmly, letting her know that it wasn't a burden. Her felt her relax in his arms, letting her shoulders unwind a little, he pulled the blanket up over them. He knew there was going to be hell to pay the next morning, but for tonight he was okay with forgetting.

"Thanks, Jake."

* * *

– '_Holding our candles through weather or not, love be the enemy now' – _

**The dark haired** boy situated himself on her couch. Moving a pillow out from behind him, he lifted his feet up to rest them on the table, she walked in with a bowl of popcorn and two sodas. The movie had just started, she jumped onto the cushion, also making herself comfortable. The beginning credits of Garden State had just begun, the lights were off as they each escaped into the fictional movie.

Some amount of time later, they were nearing the end of the movie. Apparently Zach Braff's character was just coming to terms with his mother's death, trying to find out what happened to his life and how much of it was affected by her being in a wheelchair. They watched as Natalie Portman tried to comfort him, Nathan stealing glances at the brunette here and there.

It had suddenly occurred to him, how beautiful she was. How her eyes sparkled when she laughed, her whole facial expression was lifted when she smiled. He continued to stare, the movie waves barely hitting his ears anymore. She looked over to see his gaze upon her, his eyes boldly looking her up and down.

"What're you doing?" she whispered, intimidated by his stare, but at the same time intrigued.

He didn't answer, just leaned his head in closer to her, very slowly coming in as her eyes fell closed by instinct. The last thing he expected was for her to be willing, but she was. Her breathing was a little more ragged and shallow as he finally came down, letting his lips brush hers. It wasn't rough or urgent, but slow, and romantic, something Haley had always envisioned being her first kiss with someone she was meant to be with. Her eyes fluttered open, focusing solely on him, making unbreakable eye contact with the boy.

"Why'd you do that?" her voice was husky, making him want her more. The movie was long forgotten somewhere in the background of the night. Once again he decided not to answer, just leaned in again, capturing her bottom lip between his teeth before pulling her into a deeper kiss. She let her arms come around the nape of his neck, pulling him closer, holding him tighter.

The two blondes made their way up the front, the window catching their attention on the way. Lucas stopped dead in his tracks, watching his two friends taking their relationship to another level. He grabbed Peyton's arm, pulling her to his side, pointing to their mutual friends. Her jaw dropped, while they stood in the dark.

"Oh my God," she was quiet, not willing to disturb the peace that only came with the night. She knew she was going to get details from Haley the next day, but some piece of her remained jealous. She didn't have that, Jake was gone, all she had was Lucas.

"Yea," his response was short, simple, and quiet. Her hand remaining in his all the while, they stood in the silence, his hot breath permeating the cold night. He wished that he would find that one day, someone who would make his heart beat the way his brother's did when Haley entered the room. He had known for a while that Brooke was not the one, that she wouldn't cut it, and that somewhere along the line she'd find someone else, Peyton was all he had left.

They were all they had.

– '_Now for the rest of time, and you are and you are a new age...' – _

**First off, I think I should clear some things up that a reviewer asked me about. I do realize that Lucas' middle name is Eugene, but personally I don't really like that name, and considering the story is AU (alternate universe) I can change it. Lol. Also, I know Peyton's mom died in a car accident but I had to change it so her death would fit the story better. AU means alternate universe which means nothing in the show happened, only the characters. So, thanks for reading and for the info, it means a lot that you took all that time to tell me. Also, Nathan and Haley were friends before hand, but not as close as Lucas and Peyton, they're very casual. The song used was "How Many Hearts" by Travis. Thanks for the reviews.**

**No spoilers yet ... just keep reading!**


	4. Paperclips

**12 Memories**

**Chapter 3 - Paperclips**

**A/N - **Apparently this story is a big hit, so I'm really glad you're all enjoying! I'm doing my best and hopefully you're getting the idea of their relationship and how close they are. So, enough of my babbling, I don't even know if you guys read these, so here's Chapter 3 and I hope any questions you had were answered along the way. Enjoy and tell me what you think when you get to the bottom and see the review button! ;-)

**Best friends are** a support system, they laugh together, cry together, do everything together, and know each other better than most. It's a bond that is nearly unable to be broken, and no matter the fight, they can forgive without words, knowing how sorry the other already is. In fact, it is sometimes said, _"a friend is a single soul dwelling in two bodies"_, a saying that remained true for the two broody blondes who now sat on the hood of a black car. The slight cold of the night gave them each a red nose and rosy cheeks, their breath permeating the starry night.

* * *

– '_Paperclips, melody, hold together all these memories, memories, memories' – _

**They each held** a smile, thinking of the nights events. Her car was parked at the River Court, direct middle of the court where they had sat many times before. Whether it was in comfort or for fun it was a spot that held memories, rooted deeply under the dark asphalt. He nudged her gently in the shoulder, a smirk beginning to reveal itself as he stared out.

"What're you smiling at?"

"Member when I fell in the river?" his voice was light and playful, immediately she began to laugh at the vivid memory, but at the time she had panicked.

"_Lucas, don't go any closer!" she warned him, but did he listen? Of course not, he was a guy._

"_Why? I'm not scared," but his heart had been pounding in his ears as he teased the girl beside him, wiggling his foot in the dirty, cold water._

"_So what! It's December, that water's freezing! If you fall in, I'm not coming in after you!" he laughed nervously, still dangling his foot, trying to reach the basketball that floated farther and farther away._

"_I can swim, I'd be fineeeeee!" he dragged his words as he went falling forward into the water that nearly drowned him. Peyton screamed, watching him try to keep his head up, but the cold was interfering with his plans. _

"_LUKE! Stop playing around! Get out!" she was running in circles, knowing that she wasn't going to be able to get him out even if she did get to him._

"_Help! Help! Peyton, get me out!" he struggled to form sentences, but the pain from the low temperatures of the water was overwhelming, he knew he wasn't going to be able to stay up much longer. _

_Nathan, Jake, Brooke, and Haley all strolled up, unaware of the dilemma their friends were going through. The two boys each held a basketball while the girls trailed, laughing over what Bevin had worn to school that day. Peyton saw them walking, feeling as though there was a God she rushed to them, stringing together words, hoping she was making some sort of sense._

"_He's in there...the basketball...cold water...you gotta get him...drown...run over there...hurry!" Nathan furrowed his eyebrows looking over to where the smaller girl was pointing frantically, barely hearing his brother's screams. He was thirteen, debating if he'd be able to complete this task, quickly he pulled Jake with him, moving to the river. Jake looked to him while the girls kept Peyton from jumping in. _

_In one swift motion the two boys dove towards the blonde, the cold searing, Nathan's thoughts were immediately muddled. But he kept swimming, grabbing his brother's left arm, pulling hard, struggling to keep going. Jake tried to focus on other things, anything but the extreme cold he was feeling. What should've been a five second swim seemed to be taking hours. Peyton was down near the water, her sneakers were wet and she was wading in slowly while the girls tried to pull her back. _

_In felt like years later when Nathan and Jake finally got a semiconscious Lucas to shallow water, Peyton ran to them, through the freezing water, helping them pull her best friend out. Her eyes watered as they laid him on the surrounding grass, waiting for movement, some distinct sing that he was ok._

"_We should call an ambulance or something," Brooke's suggestion brought them all back to reality, Nathan swiftly pulled his cell phone from his pocket, contacting Tree Hill hospital. Peyton hovered over the young boy, talking to him, urgently holding his hand, making sure he didn't fade. Sirens blared in the background, the other kids paced, nervously, but Peyton's presence was unwavering._

_Days later when Lucas was finally well enough to go home the two of them got a firm lecture from Karen and Larry. Each reprimanded, grounded for a week, and regretfully spent the whole week going from school to home every day.

* * *

_

– '_I don't want to think at all, I don't wanna be like you anymore, I don't wanna see your face at my door' – _

**Peyton giggled, like** a little girl at the unfading memory they both shared. He chuckled, his head down towards the street, missing simpler times.

"You were an idiot," she teased as he cocked an eyebrow, pushing his shoulder into hers.

"You think we should go back andknock on the door?" he questioned their motives, both of their heads now facing the direction ofHaley's house. A mischievous smile now appearing on her face as she jumpedinto the car, making her way to the house, and up to the door. He followed, standing behind her, watching the two figures jump from the couch, straightening clothes and hair before Haley answered.

"Peyton, Lucas," her voice was unusually nervous and shaky, the two blondes broke into a fit of laughter at Haley's expression.

"Don't think you're so sneaky," Peyton remarked, Haley's eyes shut, her face flushed red in embarrassment, Nathan appeared at the door, his face equally red.

"So, are you two together?" Haley grabbed Peyton's arm, pulling her inside and towards the bathroom.

"Oh my God, I don't know what I'm doing, Peyton...is this right?" Haley panicked over the arising situation, Peyton smiled gently, watching Haley pace back and forth.

"Hales, does it feel right?" he question was soft, and quiet, but it immediately stopped Haley in her tracks.

Her face was contorted in her thoughts, she thought of the feelings as Nathan's lips first hit hers, how they fit together when she fell back underneath him, how everything seemed right for that fifteen minute period, she was overcome with how different the world seemed when she was with him in that way.

"Yea...it was amazing, Peyt. He just kissed me and everything disappeared, everything feels right when I'm with him," the love was radiating through her eyes as she spoke, a grin gracing Peyton's features at Haley's words. Wishing that she had someone that made her feel so complete, the closest she had ever come was Lucas, and he was her best friend.

"I wish I had that," Peyton spoke, mirroring her own thoughts to the girl in front of her. "Anyway, we should go find Brooke, fill her in," Peyton quickly opened the door, rushing out, leaving Haley unable to respond to her earlier comment, already knowing exactly what the brunette would've thought. She and Lucas were nothing more than friends, but Haley had always insisted they could be more. She pushed that thought to the back of her mind, in her world, if they were meant to be, she would've known a long time ago.

* * *

– '_And I'll never leave like you, that's for sure. I don't wanna be like you anymore, anymore, anymore' – _

**Four teenagers walked** up Brooke's lawn, heading to her front door, knowing she was home from the car in the driveway. They made random small talk, just filling the silence of the still night around them. Peyton tapped the door knocker a few times, not sure if the brunette was sleeping. Finally, when they all began to get restless Peyton opened the door, inviting them in, figuring Brooke was one of her closest friends and she'd been walking in for years.

"Maybe we should split up and find her," Haley suggested to the small crowd, Nathan nodded, letting go of her hand and heading off down a side hallway he remembered vaguely from a party. Haley took that as a yes and headed in the direction of the stairs. Lucas stared at Peyton for a brief second before shaking his head pointing to the kitchen while he took his cue to go to the bedroom, he was her boyfriend after all. Yet, he remained unaware to what he would find when he neared the door.

Peyton roamed the kitchen, quietly raiding the refrigerator and taking a bag of cheese curls from the draweron her way out. Heading towards the back of the house, knowing it would take Lucas a while to get down the hallway she went to see if Nathan or Haley had returned. The blonde rounded the corner, bumping into Haley, shrieking and dropping her cheese curls. Nathan and Lucas came running to see the girls laying on the floor, laughing like maniacs, surrounded by orange cheese doodles. They each shook their heads and left again, Haley helped her friend up as she headed down another hallway.

Only a second later, Peyton's curiosity got the best of her and she headed towards Brooke's room. She found Lucas standing outside the brunette's door, confused, she approached him, tapping him on the shoulder, scaring him to death.

"Jesus, Peyton," he chided quietly, she shrugged her shoulders, chomping down a cheese curl she pointed to the door.

"You goin in?"

"I think she's sleeping," his remark made Peyton step away from the door and head back to where she came from. "But...I guess I could open it and surprise her."

"Okay, but no make-out session till I leave the room," she teased him constantly, he just flashed a cocky smirk before pushing the door open, his jaw dropping to the floor as the sight greeted him. Peyton didn't move upon seeing the shocked look on his face, when he finally turned his head in pain she took slow small steps toward him, sensing it had something to do with her when he started walking to her and pushing her the other way.

"What? What's wrong? Lucas," she demanded that he take her back to the room where she knew something big had happened.

"C'mon, Peyton let's just go."

"I want to know what happened, Lucas," she was defiant and he sighed as he stopped walking, standing in the middle of the hallway, looking directly into her eyes, the pain radiating.

"Can we go, please?" his voice was soft and quiet, he begged her silently, hoping she would listen. He didn't think he could face what was behind that door again, he couldn't go back to that.

"Luke," her voice matched his as she let her hand come up and rest on the side of his face. He closed his eyes for a minute, clearing the feeling of tears for a second before looking at her, making one of the hardest decisions of his life, he was going to let her go, tear her heart up and he wasn't going to protect her this time. He just wanted to be the one to pick the pieces up, and he knew that if he let her go, that she would come running back to him, and strangely that was the thought that comforted him when she turned away from him, walking back to the bedroom.

* * *

– '_Take a trip down memory lane, you will never wanna go again, take your leave, take your leave' – _

**Haley caught Nathan **in an empty hallway, he immediately backed her into a corner, suffocating her with kisses. She giggled at his forwardness, pushing him away and sauntering down the hallway in front of him. He watched for a moment before running and grabbing her around the waist, pulling her close and nibbling along her neck, a moan escaping in spite of herself.

"It's nice to be able to do this," he mumbled, she nodded, eyes closed in pleasure. She stepped out of his arms and turned to face him, her expression becoming serious.

"What are we?" she questioned him, he put up a confused front, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean, Nathan," she stated, hitting his thoughts dead on. His shoulders slumped as he sat down against the wall behind him and sighed. She let herself rest on the wall across from him, her size eight sneakers lightly touching his size twelve's.

"I dunno...I wanna be with you, Haley. I do," he insisted, but she didn't look convinced.

"Why can't you?" her voice was filled with pain, he saw how it hurt her. He knew she had truly liked him for the guy he was, and it was liberating, but reality quickly began to set in on the situation. The sad thing was, he really liked her too.

He shifted his position so he had leverage to pull her to him. She let him continue as he pulled her in between his legs, her back against his chest, he held her close as he began to speak.

"I don't know how to start this...I'm not good with stuff like this so I'm just gonna spit it out. I really like you, and I probably have for a while, and you're amazing. I've known for like ever, and for the longest time I wanted to kiss you, but I didn't think you liked me. And then we've been friends for a while, and I really don't wanna screw that up, I mean what if we don't work out? Then we're screwed, especially if it's one of those sucky break-ups. I don't wanna lose you as a friend, I love having you in my life. And then there's the whole we have the same friends, if we break up I don't wanna see you every day and know I can't be with you, I can't do that. I just don't see how it's gonna work if we end up not beingright for each other..." he finished softly, nearly whispering in her ear, she shivered slightly at the feeling.

"So, you don't even wanna try?"

* * *

– '_I don't wanna sing at all, I don't wanna be like you anymore, I don't wanna see your face at my door, and I'll never leave like you, that's for sure' – _

**Her heart pounded **in her ears as her steps became slower and smaller towards the door. She now wasn't sure why she had been so demanding in seeing, or why he had let her go. Now, all she wanted was to be back in his bedroom listening to music, acting stupid, but it seemed that life was pulling the obstacles right out of thin air, and they were killing her.

Things seemed to be moving in slow motion as she finally stood in front of the door in clear view, she peeked her head inside only to hear her heart shatter, like shards of glass at the sight. She almost couldn't focus, blinking a few times, she stepped inside. Laying in front of her was a naked Brooke covered not by the blankets, but by her ex-boyfriend, who had dumped her only a few days before.

She didn't know how to feel, ten million feelings came rushing in, overwhelming her with sadness, anger, grief, and other feelings she wasn't sure she had ever felt before. But at that exact point in time she was overcome with anger as she stomped to them, ripping the covers from her ever so loyal friends, and began to scream.

"You assholes! How could you do this to me? Especially you of all people, Brooke. You're scum, Jake, you don't deserve me anyway!" they each jumped out of the bed, startled as the color drained from Brooke's face at the blonde. Lucas came running when he heard Peyton screaming and throwing things around the room. Angry tears streamed down her face as she picked random things up and started to throw them, Brooke did nothing to stop her. Jake watched on in pure horror, he felt like he couldn't breathe when he saw how much hurt he had caused.

"Peyton, calm down, c'mon we'll get out of here," Lucas flashed a dirty look to his "girlfriend" and tried grabbing Peyton by the waist. She kicked, picking up a little statue she had given Brooke for her sixteenth birthday, she walked to Brooke holding it in her face.

"Best friends, huh?" she questioned the brunette sarcastically before turning her back and chucking the statue at the wall, watching it shatter into a million pieces, symbolically watching their friendship. She then made her way to Jake, the tears still falling as she wiped at them furiously, standing right in front of him, she ripped the necklace he gave her for their six month anniversary off her neck, pieces of it falling to the floor at lightening speed.

"Peyton."

"Don't Peyton me. You can have this piece of crap back, it means nothing to me now...you meant everything to me, Jake...everything," she threw it in his face, and finally felt vulnerable, and she decided she didn't like it. She turned on her heel, into Lucas' arms and whispered pleadingly that he take her home. He nodded, briefly kissing her forehead and sending her into the hallway.

He looked at Brooke, the anger from his eyes piercing her heart. Still, he stared at the two of them, looking at them as though they were nothing more than a piece of dirt he had scraped from the bottom of his shoe.

"We're done, Brooke," he whispered, maliciously. She opened her mouth to talk, but thought better and stood with the comforter around her, not speaking as the tears welled in her eyes.

"And you...not only were you my friend and you cheated with _my_ girlfriend, but you were my best friend's boyfriend, and you hurt her, you hurt her more than you'll ever know. And you should hurt for that," he raised his fist, bringing it down to connect with his nose the blood beginning to pour from his now aching body part. Lucas shot another dirty look at Brooke before walking through the door, slamming it closed behind him, finding Peyton in the hallway, teary eyed but a blank look on her face.

"C'mon, let's go to the River Court...you wanna go there?" she nodded slowly, feeling like she was three as he led her around everywhere.

"Haley and Nathan left, his car is gone. I don't wanna go home."

"You wanna come back to my house?"

"No...I don't know where I wanna go, I need to get away from here, this town," she told the boy as he opened the car door and helped her inside. He situated himself in the driver seat before thinking of an idea, the pain still felt like it was suffocating, he knew what she meant when she said she needed to get away.

"Fine. Let's go to Virginia or something. We've got a three day weekend...we should go to Busch Gardens!" his eyes lit up as he spoke and she breathed a laugh at his enthusiasm.

"Yea?"

"Uh huh, c'mon we'll go hang at the River Court for a little while and then we'll go back and tell my mom, she can call your dad and we'll go, why not?"

"Will your mom go for this?"

"I'll explain it to her and we'll beg, why not, Peyt?"

She laughed under her breath before thinking, "Yea, why not?"

– '_We get by, we get by, I won't take this, no more sadness, now, now' – _

**Hope it lived up to expectations, I wasn't planning on them going anywhere, but it just kinda happened. And I know in real life there's no way in hell they would be going to Busch Gardens by themselves, but for story purposes, just work with me here? Please? Thanks! Anyway, tell me what you thought. The song was "Paperclips" by Travis. All these songs are from the cd 12 Memories, hence the title. Anywho, next up is The Saddest Song, so keep an eye out. Review!**


	5. More Than Us

**12 Memories**

**Chapter Four - More Than Us**

**A/N - **So, I'll be updating this and The Saddest Song, hopefully a lot more in the next few weeks since I just ended Lost in the Past. So, hopefully we'll be getting into some good stuff with this. I'm glad you all like the story, I own nothing but the plot so I try to make it my best. Here's the continuation, if you didn't remember Lucas and Peyton had just found Brooke and Jake together so they were headed to Virginia for the weekend.

**Bags packed, cars** ready, kids on the run from a painful past. Karen and Larry hadn't been too fond of the idea, but after seeing Peyton's broken condition they both reluctantly let them go. Karen had quietly expressed her fears to Larry of leaving the kids alone for a whole weekend in a hotel room, but they were soon calmed. The older man assured her that they would be fine, if their hormones hadn't kicked in between them _yet_, they'd be fine for one more weekend. He was confident that the two hadn't kissed or even thought of each other in that fashion because their relationship was still at _that_ level. The moment _anything_ happened, a drastic change would be very noticeable, Karen still wasn't so sure.

* * *

– '_More than us, and we are them, but they don't know what's in our heads' – _

"Personally, I think my idea was brilliant," he flashed a cocky smirk to his best friend as she rolled her eyes.

"Let's just get outta here. Go scope the hotties in Virginia, newly single Lucas!" he smiled before jumping into the car and revving the engine. He put the car in drive and hit the gas quickly, startling Peyton who stood near the trunk.

"Damn it, Luke!" she grabbed her CD case and a soda before going to open the door, only to have to Lucas tap the gas again.

"Do you want to die!" she was as sarcastic as ever that morning - he noted this.

"Do you want to die!" he mocked, she stuck her tongue out and swiftly opened the door, sliding in next to the blonde. She lifted a CD from the case, but he pushed her hand away, to let himself mess with the radio dial.

"Not cool," she scoffed, before moving his hand.

"I'm driving," he whined, but she gave him her puppy dog eyes which she knew were a guaranteed way to get whatever she wanted.

"Now, you know I can't resist that, not fair, Peyt."

"I know, but I play dirty, Lukey," she teased with an old nickname he'd hated from day one. He grumbled under his breath before hitting the gas once more and pulling out of the driveway, headed for the highway. Windows down, sunglasses on, music loud - they were ready for some fun in their dramatic lives.

* * *

– '_It's more than you, and it's more than I, but it's more' – _

**Being Virginia was** only a state down the drive was a little over an hour and a half. It had taken longer though, considering Peyton felt the need to pee every five minutes and Lucas wanted a new bag of chips every ten. It was barely 1 PM when they did arrive, and the petite blonde was drained from the exhausting emotional day she had lived through only hours ago. She hadn't slept the whole night, she and Lucas had sat at the River Court for hours before they had decided on when to leave. And from there they sat up with Coke's and a pack of cards, now she could barely keep her eyes open enough to keep walking.

"I need sleep," she told the boy next to her tiredly. He nodded his head to agree as they slowly made their way to the hotel in front of them.

"Hello, welcome to the Holiday Inn, what can I get you two?" the teller politely questioned them as Lucas groggily ordered one room with two single beds.

"Sorry, sir. We're all filled with two single beds...would one king size be okay? It's all we have available to accommodate your needs," she flashed a quick smile at the two teenagers as Peyton continued convincing herself that everything did _not_ happen for a reason. Haley would've been laughing at her right then, she brushed the thought away as the bell boy grabbed their bags and took them to their room.

"Ah, the beauties of sleep," she remarked quietly while flopping down on the large feathery king size comforter that covered the bed. He pulled down the shades, removed his shoes and laid himself under the covers, resting his head and releasing a sigh. She repeated his movements and laid on the opposite end, under the warm covers. Within minutes she felt herself relaxing, but before sleep caught her Lucas startled her. He lay propped up on an elbow on his side watching her, she sat up glaring at him.

"I can't sleep while you're looking at me," exasperated and frustrated she crossed her arms, he chuckled at her childish behavior.

"You big baby," once more she stuck her tongue out at him. He swiftly crossed the large bed to reel her in, tickling her when she was finally at his side. Only minutes later tears poured out of her eyes, unable to laugh any harder and he finally let her go. She took a deep breath while he let his head fall back on the pillow again.

"Now you wanna sleep?"

He nodded.

"Good, me too," a large yawn escaped her as she snuggled back into her side of the bed only to be pulled over by his strong, muscular arms.

"C'mon, Luke. I really wanna sleep."

"Me too," he mumbled, still keeping her tucked close into his chest. Oddly enough she didn't protest, but let her muscles relax in his arms, feeling protected and safe was something that never got old with him. As his breath evened out she knew he was sleeping, his arms still wrapped tenderly around her waist.

It took a few long minutes, but she finally settled down, and let her eyes close, succumbing to the ever-present element of sleep.

* * *

– '_And everybody calls it love, but I'm not really sure if it's love at all, not anymore' – _

**Nearly six hours** later she finally had the strength to open her eyes, she felt her small body wrapped in someone's arms, everything from earlier that day having escaped her. She turned her head slowly to find her best friend contentedly sleeping away his day in Virginia.

In the most cautious movements she could make she moved out of his arms and opened a few shades to let the sun pour in, waking a disgruntled Lucas.

"Peyt," he groaned, she giggled, running and jumping back into the bed, clobbering him with pillows. She took it upon herself to straddle his waist, poking his stomach to wake him up.

"Rise and shine, Luke!" he groaned again, rolling over, taking her with him.

"Can't we just stay in here all day. Away from the rest of the world." In a mock-seriousness she brought her hand to her chin, pretending to think to please him.

"How bout no?"

"How bout yes...get under here," he pulled her under the covers, once again close to his chest as he lay on his side. She wriggled to get free, but there was no such luck on her part. As her giddiness began to fade, reality began to set in. She began to remember exactly why they had taken off to Virginia, she vividly remembered the image of Jake and Brooke laying in bed together, how much it hurt and how Lucas had always been there. Why was it that he was never an option before, and why was her mind trying to tell her differently now?

"Peyton?" he was quiet, she looked over to find him fully awake watching her as he had been the night before.

"Maybe we should stay here," she choked out, his face scrunched up in worry. "I was really, really happy."

He gathered her fragile form into his arms for a third time since they'd arrived and held her tightly. He kissed her forehead and kept her close, protected.

"I can honestly say I know how you feel...it hurts -"

"Like hell," he laughed at her dry sense of humor and continued.

"But we gotta move on. We gotta get our asses up outta this bed and go have some fun. How bout the log flume?" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and she laughed while swatting at a few stray tears. He wiped them away with his thumbs and chucked another pillow at her head before jumping out of bed and running to the bathroom, screaming like a little girl.

* * *

– '_More than he, more than she. They all sleep, but we just dream, more or less, means more for us' – _

**It was a **few log flumes and hot dogs later that they were sitting on metal chairs drinking soda staring out at the amusement park that they had just abandoned.

"Fun times," he remarked randomly, she rolled her eyes and continued watching the small children begging their parents to go on a ride they were clearly years to young for.

"What did you wanna grow up for?"

"What?" the abrupt question had caught him off guard, he racked his brain for a quick answer.

"When I was a kid, I wanted so badly to be able to wear make-up like my mom and do everything the grown ups did. I didn't want to be a kid, now all I wanna do is go back...what's so great about this?" she waved her hand in the air referring to their hiding out from some painful relationships.

He shrugged, turning back to the children in the park. The answer she received didn't satisfy her in the least, but at that moment she was content just sitting with him, wondering what her future might hold now that her past held so much pain.

**Her phone rang** as they watched the beginning credits of a Saturday Night Live re-run flicker on the TV. Haley flashed on the caller ID screen, she walked to the bathroom, locked herself in and prepared to break down the past days events to the brunette.

"Hey Peyton," Haley's voice was an odd tone, the blonde couldn't distinguish what was going on from Haley's cryptic sounds. Normally she could tell the kind of day Haley was having just from her hey, but that conversation was strangely monotone.

"Hales, have you missed some drama."

"Fill me in, try starting off as to why you and Lucas are sitting at Busch Gardens without the ever-famous me," she laughed at her own corny joke and faded out.

"Well, let's start with finding Jake and Brooke in bed together," she heard Haley's gasp loud and clear and was quickly urged to continue.

"Wow, okay. Tree Hill is crazy...elaborate."

"So, Lucas went to find Brooke and when he opened the door he backed away and I was scared to see what happened. He finally let me go, which was surprisingly unlike him, but he let me make my own mistake and I found them together in her bed. I started throwing her statues at the wall, breaking one of the few I gave her on her birthday and ripped Jake's necklace in half. Last I heard Lucas punched him in the nose and ended things with Brooke -"

"So that's what happened to Jake!"

"Uh-huh...is it broken?" she was eager to find what had become of her former boyfriend.

"I think so. I haven't seen him anywhere near Brooke recently, I've barely seen anyone really -"

"Whoa, whoa...what about you and Nathan?"

"Let's get to that in a little while. It's a long story...now please tell me how _you_ ended up in Virginia," the brunette pressed the blonde to finish and though Peyton tried to pretend, she needed to tell Haley a few of the insane thoughts she'd been having since the previous night.

"Okay, okay. Lucas and I sat at the River Court the whole night drowning in our own misery and he suggested Busch Gardens, which is where I am at right now," she boasted with a grunt from Haley and pressed on, "so I didn't take him seriously. We went back to his house had a few Cokes to stay awake and played cards and I finally agreed and here I am!"

"Wow. Well, you shoulda called me, I could have used a drowning in my own misery night..." she trailed off, leaving Peyton to play guessing games.

"I hate these games, Hales. What happened?"

"It all fell apart, Peyton. One minute were making out in Brooke's hallway and the next he's telling me something about not wanting to wreck our friendship. God, he wasn't even willing to try," Haley rattled off her problems and all Peyton could think of was the irony that Nathan would be saying the things she was thinking.

"I have a problem then."

"What?"

"You know how since we were like thirteen you've been telling me how perfect Lucas and I would be...well I've been thinking about that. And he's like a brother to me, but recently I was thinking about the kind of guy I want, a guy that treats me right. He's the only guy I know that has ever taken the time to _really_ care. Do you think it's just because I'm lonely and hurt and just want another guy or because I might actually like him?" Haley squealed loudly at Peyton's sudden confession, barely containing her burst of excitement.

"I need an honest opinion, not your matchmaking opinion, Haley, please."

"Okay. Well, honestly I don't know. I wish I did, but right now I'm thinking it's more a rebound thing, no matter how much I wish it wasn't for your sake. You two are perfect for each other, Peyton. One day you'll see it." Peyton let out a loud sigh of relief, a weight was lifted now that Haley had confirmed her feelings were just leftovers, nothing to be worried about.

"Well, I highly doubt that but if it makes you happy I'll just agree. Thank you so much for that, I was really scared for a minute -"

"Yea, I was really excited for a minute."

* * *

– '_But it's more, and everybody wants a hand. But I'm too busy holding up the world to carry on, no not anymore' – _

**Now her mind** was a little lighter as she sauntered out of the bathroom to find Lucas in a fit of laughter as the weekend update finished on Saturday Night Live.

"Loser," she coughed under her breath, he stopped in a moment's notice and stared at her. She laughed and plopped back onto the bed next to him, he settled back down.

"What do you wanna do? I'm bored..." his sentence fell into the empty silence as he turned the TV off.

"Wanna go...get ice cream!" her whole face lit up and he knew he couldn't say no - that would be plain mean.

"Yea, okay. Let's get outta here...it's getting stuffy -"

"Stuffy?"

"Yea stuffy. That's a word, look it up," he puffed his chest out to mock his intelligence as they both fell into giggles, shutting the door behind them.

**Minutes later they** walked the bright streets of Virginia as the dark settled around them. For being so small it was a lively, little town with many people littering the streets for the small shops.

"You always get the same thing," he exaggerated on the always and she made a face.

"Hey now, I like my vanilla cone with caramel," she defended her ice cream choice and stomped ahead of him. He chuckled and ran to catch up, shoving the remnants of ice cream from his cup onto her face. She gasped as the cold hit her face and dripped down onto her shirt.

"Jerk! You got ice cream all over me!"

"Well, you looked so upset. Thought it might cheer you up," he winked and wiped some of the ice cream away for her. She continued to walk next to him, still every so often reminded of the memory of her ex.

"So, now what?" she questioned the tall blonde next to her and he shrugged.

"I dunno, we could watch TV?"

"You brought me to Virginia to watch TV?"

"No, I brought you to Virginia to forget about that asshole boyfriend you once had and the bitch of a girlfriend I once had," he snapped, quickly sombering the happy mood that had once been.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"Look, Peyt, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that -"

"Why'd you say it?"

"Because I'm angry too. I'm bitter too and I want you to know my feelings are in this too...I didn't just bring you here for that, you know?"

She nodded.

"I brought you here to spend time with you too. We've both been so busy, and I have to say these past few days are the most time I've spent with you in a long time. It was like it used to be," he finished slowly, awaiting her reaction to his meaningful speech.

"Yea, it was."

"So, can we forget about male whore and slut that were once our significant others?" she giggled and nodded.

"I know!" he cocked his head to the side, as if telling her to elaborate.

"Wanna go raid the mini-bar and get drunk?"

"Do you have any idea how much money those things are, or how much trouble we're gonna get in, or...yea, let's go," he casually agreed and she began to laugh, bumping her hip into his as they continued their walk to the hotel.

* * *

– '_I wish that I could fly, fly, fly away. And if I should fall, and you hear me call, would you stay?' – _

**It took a** bobby pin and Lucas' muscles to pry the mini refrigerator open, and once he did a feeling of liberation crossed over Peyton.

"How come we've never done this before?" she asked, her eyes scanning the labels that filled the small refrigerator.

"Because...we'd get in trouble. And there's no one here to stop us this time," he walked up behind to read along.

"True...want some vodka or rum?"

"I've got the Pepsi -"

"You wanna get drunk mixing it with Pepsi?" she questioned his motives and he nodded like a two year old.

"If you really wanna get drunk, Luke, we don't use Pepsi. We just down it," she told him proudly, almost boasting her knowledge.

"But that's nasty -"

"If we cared about it being nasty, we wouldn't be doing this right now. Drunk," she held up a bottle, "or not?" she flashed an empty hand. He smirked, squinting his eyes as though pretending to think.

"Definitely drunk!"

* * *

– '_More than us, and we are them. But they don't know, what's in our heads. It's more than you, and it's more than I, but it's more' – _

**A very drunk **Peyton staggered to the bed, tripping over her own feet and falling onto the floor. A very drunk Lucas witnessed the whole thing and rolled over laughing so hard he could barely breathe.

"Not funny," she growled from the floor.

"Is this gonna shuck tomorrow?"

"Shuck?"

"Yea, shuck..."

"Probally," she admitted, still trying to lift herself from the soft carpet beneath her.

He leaned over, grabbing her arm and pulling her up where she laid herself on the bed with a travel bottle of vodka still glued to her hand.

"I think this is lots better than sitting th-thinking bout them," she commented, being an optimistic drunk had always seemed to be a bright side.

"I too," he raised his small bottle, looking very proud of himself.

"I too?"

"Uh-huh."

"Gosh, Luke. You're an illiterate drunk."

"At least I not a optimistic drunk who thinks the globe is cats and rainbows."

"Whatever, I'm a sexy drunk."

"Surrrreeeee. You maybe shexy. I still don't like you, best friend," he flashed a cheesy grin and gulped another half of the bottle.

"I take that as a compliment."

– '_And everybody calls it love, but I'm not really sure if this is love, at all. Not anymore, anymore, anymore' – _

**I personally thought this turned out particularly well. If you'll notice a few subtle hints, they'll keep coming - _oh and they might actually lead to something unlike the show_. So, keep an eye out and keep reading and reviewing. I cheated, the song is from _another_ Travis CD. The song is "More Than Us". **

**REVIEW! I'm writing for you guys, not for my own pleasure (though I do like writing this.) If you like it, don't be lazy or afraid to tell me what you think, what you liked, or what I can improve on. REVIEW! They're the best part about writing for me.**


	6. Walking Down the Hill

**12 Memories**

**Chapter Five - Walking Down the Hill**

**Authors Note - **So, this story is progressing well, and I'm hoping you guys like it. I'm not completely sure where it's going yet, but I do know don't expect a really, really long story. Mostly the plot of this is them finding their way back to each other after some things that go on down the road. So, even if things don't go completely the way you want in a few chapters, stick with me, because I can guarantee you a happy ending. I've got some kind of plan - keep reading guys. Here is chapter five )**Read this **

**The sun peeked** in through the sliding glass window, making the morning presence known to all that were in the room. A groan could be heard, and a pillow flung over someone's head. It was nearing nine AM, but neither of the blondes were willing to wake up that morning. Especially not after the night before - all of the bottles previously encased in the mini bar were now gone. And Lucas could honestly say that he enjoyed himself up until the point that he felt like he and the toilet were a lot closer than he would've ever imagined. The fact that his head was pounding with unbelievable force was also not helping the cause.

* * *

– '_Walking down this hill tonight I had a thought all to myself as I contemplated the moonlight' – _

"Advil," she mumbled from beneath the covers and between his arms.

He nodded silently, knowing even the slightest noise would make him cringe, or the pounding increase, becoming louder in his head. And then that pretty, little blonde in his arms had to talk again.

"How're you?" she questioned through her slight headache, still not approaching the feeling he had.

"Better when you weren't talking," he grounded out, receiving a slight giggle from the girl.

They laid in the silence for a long time, as Lucas began to doze off again Peyton found herself in a whirlwind of memories from their earlier years. One in particular day that stood out in her mind was the first anniversary of her mother's death, the hardest year.

_A whole 360 days she'd survived without her mother so far, she wasn't sure she would make another 360 - or that she'd even want to. But Lucas had been there the whole year, without a doubt or a second thought. It hadn't even occurred that he didn't have to be there. And that day was no different._

_It was near 5:30 that morning when she heard a knock on her window. Groggily she opened her eyes, unwilling to want to start that dreadful day. But it didn't take a genius to know she couldn't stay wrapped in the covers that whole day - no matter how much she wanted to._

_She looked through her window, surprised to see Lucas standing in her front yard with a few stones in his hand, and a broad smile crossing his face. She let the corners of her mouth turn up slightly at his attempt to be there for her. She put a finger up to signal that she'd be down to him in minutes, he took her answer and paced the grass wondering what he would say to such a broken little girl._

"_Hey," she offered, burying her hands deep into her jean pockets and looking to the grass below her._

"_Hey, Peyt..."_

"_You don't have to act all weird around me, I'm still the same person...even today," she reassured him of this before stepping closer and faking a small smile._

"_Well, the Peyton I know would definitely want to go to the River Court and hang out for a little bit," he flashed his smile, showing off his one missing tooth and began walking in the right direction._

_She trailed behind the boy slightly, trying her hardest to keep all the random images of her mother from her mind. But there were a few moments as they walked when she saw a flower, or the sun tinted the trees to make them just the right color that her mother's laugh would ring in her ears, her smile would invade her vision, causing her to shake her head a few times. He looked back momentarily, making sure she was okay, making sure she stayed with him. He'd just turned eleven, but he wasn't stupid - he knew she had lied in saying she was okay, but he would let her talk on her own terms._

"_Luke..."_

"_Yea?" he turned back, squinting to see her through the bright sunlight._

"_Is something wrong with you?" He laughed at her question and stopped to fall into step with the girl a few inches smaller._

"_No, why?" he watched her concentrate on her answer, her eyebrows furrowed creating an expression that made him smile._

"_Because why haven't you asked me anything? You haven't asked how I was or if I was okay..."_

"_I don't need to," he responded confidently._

"_What?"_

"_I'm your best friend and I have been since we were two. I don't need to ask, but when you're ready to talk about it I'll be here," she looked over to him admiringly. "So...you ready for me to kick your butt in PIG?"_

"_Okay, someone's got pride..."_

"_I'm not proud, just confident, Peyt." She giggled at his egotistical response, and if only for a few hours he took her mind off of everything, for a few hours all was right and nothing had ever been wrong. If only for a few hours her mother didn't leave, her father was always home and she had always felt complete - if only for a few hours.

* * *

_

– '_We got it all, we got it made, I don't know how I got here but I'm holding on for the crash' – _

**By four o'clock** that afternoon Lucas was willing to try to pull his head out from under the covers that he had trapped himself in. He found that Peyton was no longer with him, but instead she had left a note on the bedside table, along with an Advil and glass of water.

_Lucas,_

_Take this and just don't move around too much. Hopefully it'll wear off so we can do something later. I'm going to take a walk - clear my head for a little bit. I'll be fine, don't come looking for me, believe me the consequences for your headache will be a bitch. I'll see you later_

_- Peyton_

He re-read the note another couple of times to figure out what she was being so cryptic about. Why she couldn't have just told him where she went? She always made him worry when she got in those moods, the ones where she just wanted to be alone. He laid in the bed for another five minutes - his brain telling him that she wanted to be alone and that she'd be fine, but everything inside of him was pushing him to go find her, take care of that fragile part of her that only he got to see.

He felt a stampede of elephants run through his head, but he pushed harder to tie his shoes, trying to find why it looked like there were more laces than two. After much contemplation he tucked the strings into his white sneakers and pulled on a shirt before heading out the door, key in hand.

It didn't take long to find her, he picked up two lemonades and headed out to a solitary part of the beach where she was seated with headphones - his headphones. He plopped himself down on the sand beside her, shocking her slightly when she felt his presence.

"How'd you find me?" she questioned suspiciously, pulling the headphones from her ears.

"It was easy, plus I just know these things," he replied, winking and handing over a paper cup filled with homemade lemonade.

"Ext -"

"Yes, extra sugar. The same way you've been drinking it for years," a beat of silence, she tucked her curls behind her ear, letting her gaze travel back to the roaring waves. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, Luke. Just needed a breather from...everything," she told the boy, when she really meant him. She need time away from him, from everyone, from the world around her. It was all coming down on her and the more she thought of heading back to Tree Hill the more she wanted to turn and run farther south, farther away. The thought of Jake still lingered in her head, that genuine smile he would let her see just before he kissed her, every kiss being as memorable as the first.

"_So, this is an interesting first date," Peyton spoke up, the normally quiet Jake sitting across from her at a dinner table. His parents had just left the table to retrieve more food from the buffet, he blushed, grasping for words to explain his embarrassment._

"_I didn't mean for it. I forgot my sister had a recital tonight, and when I told them I was taking you out they just kinda -"_

"_Invited themselves?" she finished and he nodded, still staring at the white table cloth._

"_Can...can I just take you home, we can walk," he offered, she quietly answered with a yes and they stood together, waving to his parents._

"_Ya know, it's not that I don't like your parents, I've known them for years," she told him easily, trying to fill the silence and let him know it was okay._

"_I know, but when I asked you out, I asked you out, not you and my parents," she laughed at his explanation, tucking her hand into his. He was surprised, to say the least, but accepted, moving his eyes back to the cement below them._

"_Thanks, Jake."_

"_For what? Taking you out to eat with my parents?"_

"_No, for taking me out, and wanting to," she blushed slightly at her sudden vulnerability and he smirked at her being able to be open with him._

_He looked over, pushing her chin up to make eye contact with her. Leaning in slowly he captured her lips with his own, and to her own surprise she let him.

* * *

_

– '_Pulled myself out of the moon, I know I'll never go there, but it's shining down from up on high' – _

"What're you thinking about?" he nudged her shoulder with his own, she shifted her eyes to make contact with his, the overwhelming desire to kiss him was overtaking her, but she wouldn't let it. She didn't like him like that - she missed Jake and that's all there was, all there ever would be. He would find other girls, she would find another guy, he was only a best friend and her hormones were getting the better part of her.

"...nothing"

"Liar."

"Nuh uh," she insisted.

"You are. I can tell when you're thinking about something."

"Well, it's nothing. I was just looking at the water."

"No, you weren't. Jake?"

"How do you do that!" she questioned, frustrated with his psychic ability when it came to reading her mind.

"I told you, I'm gifted," he revealed a cocky smirk and she hit him with her elbow.

"C'mon, Luke. I'm not into the bullshit right now," he let his smile fade, becoming serious very quickly, turning to face her he noticed the tears that began to form. She bit her bottom lip, pushing all the softness back - she'd always hated to be open.

"I told you this before, Peyt. I'm your best friend -"

"Do you think...we're more than that?"

"What do you mean? We don't go out, we've never even kiss-"

"I didn't mean like that, Luke. I mean like...what best friends do you know that are this close?" she asked, pointing between the two of them, referring to their strange connection. "And to make it weirder, it's not like we've ever kissed, so it's not that kinda connection we have. It's something different."

He seemed to think over the thought, tossing her words around in his head as the people on the boardwalk made noise in the background. The relatively cloudy day seemed to melt away as they sat there, leaving just them in the middle of the beach - together.

* * *

– '_We got it made, we got it made, I don't know what we've got to make...sooner or later lay down. We're apart' – _

"I guess it is."

"You don't believe me?" she was perplexed that he didn't find their connection the same. She turned her head from his incriminating stare back to the water.

"What do you mean by different? We're best friends, what's different?"

"Guys. Are. Stupid."

"Am not. I want you to explain to me what's so different about you and me that's not like...Laverne and Shirley?"

"Oh my God. Are you kidding me?" she laughed loudly, he looked at her strange as she belly laughed through his looks. "Did you...really just...compare _us_ to Laverne and Shirley? And since when do you watch that show?" she laughed between words, determined to catch her breath.

"Hey, my mom used to make me watch it. She used to love that stuff...I couldn't think of any other best friends...stop laughing!"

"I'm sorry, Luke. It's just...I just can't be friends with you anymore."

"Haha, yea real funny.That's extremely funny, Peyt."

"I thought so. Anyway, I think we're a lot different than _Laverne and Shirley_," she poked fun at his example and he just made faces.

"How?"

"Look, our moms were best friends. We can like read each others minds, finish each others sentences. You can find me when I leave...even in Virginia. You found me that night my mom died. And you're the only one who's stuck by me when I'm a bitch, when all I do is cry, or I laugh like a maniac. You know me better than anyone, you're more than a best friend to me."

"Yea. I guess we are closer than normal best friends," he decided.

"Ya know Haley makes fun of us..." she trailed off, waiting for him to question her, freak out just like she knew he would.

"What? Why?" she laughed at how predictable he always was and answered patiently.

"Because we're so close, but we've never kissed or done anything at all. She keeps telling me, and telling me that we're gonna end up together and how perfect we are for each other...but I don't see you like that," he feigned hurt at her rejection and chuckled.

* * *

– '_Go to pieces. Why not go to sleep? Look into my heart, oh baby, don't become a part of the past. You can be a part of the keep' – _

"Well, that's Haley for you. The eternal matchmaker. You mean you've never looked at me like that? Ya know I liked you when we were like 10, but I got over that," she now threw her hand over her heart, laughing at his confession.

"I didn't like you then. I did...never mind."

"Never mind what? Continue."

"No," she refused to finish her sentence.

"Yes, you can't do that. You can't start a sentence and just stop. That's not cool."

"I liked you...once."

"When?"

"If I told you...I'd have to kill you," he smiled at her corny jokes, but pressed again.

"When?"

"Okay, but you can't make fun of me. I...I liked you, last night?"

"Last night!" he nearly choked on his lemonade at her information.

"Yea, I called Haley but she told me I was just upset over Jake and my hormones were messed up. It was a one time thing, don't let me inflate your ego. I didn't really like you," he shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, what an inflation in my self-esteem -"

"Luke, I didn't mean it like that. I don't like you like that. You're my best friend, and while you probably would be perfect for me...it'd be too weird."

"Yea, it would be."

"Do you think Haley's right though?"

"About what?"

"That we'll end up together...I mean we have a weird connection, it's not really normal, but I think of you like a brother...well not a brother, but you know what I mean," he let a few moments pass, really thinking about her question and how weird it would be to be with her like that.

* * *

– '_Don't turn away, don't run away, don't leave me hanging by a thread._ _Shine a little loving down on me. We're in love, make your peace, wasting time is all you need' – _

"Well, right now...I don't see it. I can't think of you like that, but that's because we're the way we are. I mean, maybe one day when we're older, when things are different. It's not that there's anything I don't like about you...I mean you're everything I look for in a girl -"

"Where'd Brooke come from then?" she teased.

"Shut up. Anyway, when I look for a girlfriend I find myself comparing her to you, but I can't see us together, at least not yet. We're not ready yet - we're not grown up enough yet to deal with whatever connection we have. I think it's bigger than what we expect, I think it's more than we're ready to take on at 16 and 17. I think we have something deeper than any 16 or 17 year old can have in a relationship, it's too much. But maybe one day, when we're older and ready...maybe then we can be together that way. But for now, I think we're best friends for a reason. And if this connection is what I think it is...then no matter what we'll find our way back to each other in the end."

"Very deep, Luke. So, you do acknowledge there's a connection?" she smiled at his words, teasing him again.

"More than what we think."

"So, what? Fate's gonna bring us together?"

– '_Walking down this hill tonight, I had a thought, it was my own and then the moon swept by the clouds and saved the starlight. Oh shall I be or shall I not be, I don't know, I just don't feel like it tonight' – _

"No. Whatever we have between us will bring us back together. Whatever we have, it's strong enough to do just that - it's meant to do that."

**So, hopefully that made some sort of sense for you guys. I really liked the connection aspect, so I think it worked. The song was "Walking Down the Hill" by Travis. **

**Tell me what you thought, if it worked or not. The reviews keep me writing, I'm not writing it for myself after all. So, just give me a few words, let me know you're reading.**


	7. Driftwood

**12 Memories**

**Chapter Six - Driftwood**

**Authors Note - So, the finale was dramatic and I just feel the need to keep writing Lucas and Peyton because he wants to be with Brooke. But frankly, I don't give a rats ass about _them_, so I'm gonna stay optimistic and keep going with my stories. I love this one because it gives me a chance to explore their friendship without the feelings getting in the way yet. But as we see Peyton's confusing herself and they've talked about what they could be to each other. **

**The sky was** cloudy above them as they sat with their lemonades on the balcony that late afternoon. The day before had been a startling discovery for both of them, but today they were moving past all of it because it was their last day in Virginia. Their last day inside the small world they created for themselves, and as much as they both knew they couldn't run from their problems, neither could say they actually _wanted_ to go home.

* * *

– '_Everything is open, nothing is set in stone. Rivers turn to oceans, oceans tide you home' – _

**The car engine** roared below the sound of the music, and Peyton bobbed her head to the beat. Lucas concentrated on the black asphalt ahead of them as they both drowned themselves in the music. But he had to know and he couldn't put the question off much longer.

"What're you gonna do when we get back?" Peyton looked over to him slowly, her brow furrowed in thought.

"I'm not talking to either of them," she declared, crossing her arms in confirmation. He nodded, smiling at her independence and continued the long drive back to Tree Hill.

"But I will go find Haley and get some ice cream and watch some sad movies," she smirked, winking at the boy beside her while he rolled his eyes.

"You're such a girl," he teased.

"You don't say?" she cocked her head to the side, her eyes growing in sarcasm. He chuckled at her antics, turning up the music and shaking his head a few times as she joined his childish behavior.

* * *

– '_Home is where your heart is, but your heart had to roam. Drifting over bridges, never to return' – _

**It was nearing** midnight when they finally pulled into his driveway, after deciding to stop at Wendy's before returning home they were both full of french fries and frosties.

"Well, you wrecked my ice cream retreat with Haley," she pouted, but he just continued unpacking the suitcases filling the trunk of the SUV they drove. "You know," she lifted herself to sit on the ledge of the trunk, "you're very broody when you want to be."

"Thinking," he replied tersely, momentarily letting his eyes gaze over her long legs that peaked out from her shorts.

"I saw that!" she gasped, feigning outrage and whacking him the shoulder while he smiled to himself.

"Darn...caught," he said with no emotion, but he continued watching her reactions from the corner of his eye.

"Sooooo," she sing-songed, letting her head come down to be level with where he was wiping crumbs out of the carpet in the back of his vehicle.

"You just had to have those Doritos on the way down, didn't you?"

"Uh huh," she nodded, proudly. She watched his eyebrows come back together, scowling again, forming that broody look that she constantly made fun of him for.

"You know, my dad always said if you kept one expression for too long your face would freeze like that," she giggled with her sunglasses perched on her head.

"Yea, well my mom always said...to never tease someone when they know your ticklish spots," he snapped back, grabbing her and tickling her until she was on the verge of tears.

"Lucas...stop! Please!" she begged through the laughs that stole her breath. He finally laughed for the first time since entering Tree Hill and he let her go as she steadied her breathing.

"Totally hate to bust the mood, but what about Brooke?"

"Brooke who?" he responded easily, still removing his best friend's belongings from the trunk.

"C'mon, Luke. I know you better than that," she pointed out, and he gave up denying. It was when she called him 'Luke' that she meant it - the way he called her 'Peyt' in their more personal moments.

"I know," he said quietly, lifting his head to meet her eyes from where she sat. His height gave him an advantage - as he stood on the ground he was eye level with her. Slowly, he brought his hands to either side of her, restinghis hands on the ledge where she sat,letting his weight fall against his arms, keeping his eyes locked with hers.

"It's ok," she breathed, being so close to him all the time threatened her hormones...best friend or not.

"It hurt...to see her with him in that bed. I've known her for so long, and maybe it wasn't love, but it was the closest thing I had. I've screwed up with so many other girls that I was so determined to do right. I was ready to be everything to her. I would've given her _everything_, Peyt. I would've done whatever she wanted...but she didn't give me the chance...she didn't even let me try to prove it to her," he finished, letting his vulnerability shine through for moments - something she saw about as rarely as he did of her soft side.

"I know," she replied, echoing his earlier words. She let her head fall to rest against his own forehead, he smiled a genuine smile for her. Not his smirk or a plastered piece of him - it was real, genuine and meant for her. This had always been her favorite side of him - the one that wasn't tainted by the pain in his life, the one that was meant for her and it melted her heart when he was as gentle as he was right at that moment as they sat in the dark, supporting each other.

"Thanks," he whispered, still un-moving in the stillness of the night.

"You don't have to thank me. I love you, Luke, you know that," she insisted as he opened his eyes, looking at her in their close proximity. His feelings pushed him forward, to her lips that laid so close to his own - her heart raced, her eyes closed as she radiated in beauty. Just a few centimeters more and their friendship would be cemented as more...but he never got the chance to make his mark as the sounds of Jimmy Eat World played through the speakers of his cell phone, Haley's name flashed in color.

* * *

– '_Watching bridges burn, you're driftwood floating underwater, breaking into pieces, pieces, pieces. Just driftwood, hollow and of no use' – _

**She ran all** the way to Haley's door, knocking in her state of shallow breaths. She shook from the emotions pouring out, unable to find a place for such feelings. And when she thought of how close they were - it made her want to feel like that again. To feel so alive...she never felt that with anyone before, and now that she was without him she felt a piece of her missing.

"Peyton?" Haley answered the door completely confused with her friend's sudden appearance.

"I've got a major problem, Haley," Peyton was completely shaken and rattled. Haley could see it so easily as she ushered the blonde in.

"Your parents home?"

"No. They're gone for the weekend...you're safe," Haley waved the girl to the couch that sat in the middle of her living room. They sat together. "First off...what're you doing here at 1 AM?"

"What're you doing up?"

"...cleaning," Haley replied, embarrassed that Peyton knew what she did when she was home by herself. She had never been a bad kid, and at times she got in the mood to clean...especially when everything else in her life seemed to have spun out of control.

"What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"Hales, I'm not stupid. The only time you clean uncontrollably is when something's wrong. Nathan?" Haley shrugged once, falling into her thoughts for a few minutes.

"It doesn't matter right now. You came over here because something's obviously wrong...what happened?" For a moment she pushed away her own problems for the girl in front of her. It was a chance to escape anyway.

"What happened? A hell of a lot happened. For starters...I almost kissed Lucas...or well he almost kissed me," Haley was shocked, her jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

"Okay, whoa...details!"

"It's nothing big, really."

"Yes, Peyton, it is! This is huge...this is...my dream come true!"

"You know," she squinted at the brunette, "it really is sad that your dream come true is me hooking up with my best friend," she teased.

"Shut up! Just continue. You can't come here and tell me you two almost kissed and not tell me exactly what went down," Haley clapped once, grabbing a gallon of ice cream and two spoons. She flopped back onto her cushion and urged the girl in front of her to continue what she's started.

Half an hour later, after much questioning and laughing on Haley's part, Peyton had recapped up to Haley's phone call. She still had trouble comprehending exactly what had happened, but she refused to let it change what she and Lucas shared. They had something special, something most people never find in anyone and she had no intentions of letting him go anytime soon. Even if it meant pretending like nothing had ever happened.

"So, you called and he backed off immediately. He answered the phone, said you were wondering if we made it home ok. He got real quiet, and grabbed his bags. I thought maybe he was mad or something, but he came back out, hugged me and offered a ride home. I just don't want this to change anything."

"Well, that might be inevitable," the brunette said seriously. Peyton shook her head, somberly - change was the last thing she wanted when their relationship was the only thing that remained unchanged in her unstable world.

* * *

– '_Waterfalls will find you, bind you, grind you. Nobody is an island, everyone has to go. Pillars turn to butter, butterflying low.' – _

**And so he** walked. He didn't know where he was going or when he was going to be back, but his feet kept moving down the empty Tree Hill streets where all was quiet and all was still. He felt the need to talk to his little brother, but Nathan's own world was in shambles as he and Haley hit a rough patch already. There was no way he was going to load his problems on his brother. And while he would've loved to go to talk to Jake - that wasn't an option anymore.

"What do I do?" he mumbled out to the dark sky.

"About what?" Jake stood behind him, his nose was swollen and under bandages to hold it in place.

"Why would I tell you?" he turned bitterly to the boy.

"Look, I know you're mad at me. I'm not happy with what I did - but I did break things off with Peyton. I never once cheated on her...I never even thought about it. So, don't look at me in that respect, Luke. I loved her, but I got possessive. I wanted all of her, not just the piece she was willing to give up because the rest of her was with you."

"Why would it be with me?" he questioned the brunette.

"Because you've always had her heart. There's no question about it. And I thought maybe we could make it work, but she's always loved you. The same way you've always loved her, no matter what you think I can see it, we all can. We're not stupid, and I think somewhere in there you know it too," Jake was always good with advice, something Lucas was always able to go to him for.

"I almost kissed her," Lucas confessed, shocking himself with what he was revealing to the boy in front of him. Jake laughed the information off, while inside it tore at his heart. Lucas knew it hurt, he watched it unfold in his friend's eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Why didn't you finish?"

"Haley called."

* * *

– '_Low is where your heart is, but your heart has to grow. Drifting under bridges, never with the flow' – _

"So, the cosmic forces made me wreck the one thing that I've been waiting for?" Haley was outraged with her behavior. "Why the hell would I call Lucas to ask if you guys got home ok?"

They sat with the ice cream between them, Peyton laughed. She shoveled in another spoonful, licking her spoon clean, before pretending to think.

"Maybe it was a sign?" she suggested, but Haley shook her head vehemently.

"No, you two are supposed to be together...it was definitely not a sign. Or at least it wasn't my sign," she persisted, leaving Peyton shaking her head at the girl.

* * *

– '_And you really didn't think it would happen, but it really is the end of the line. So I'm sorry that you turned to driftwood, but you've been drifting for a long, long time.' – _

**The two boys** left the fights behind, everything that happened only days before was forgotten for a few moments. Just to show that Jake would be there, friends or not he was always first to help.

"So, Haley called and you backed off...hugged her and let her go?"

"Yea," Lucas nodded with a smile at Jake's priceless expression.

"Dude, you've got serious problems. Get some balls, Lucas," he laughed, along with the boy beside him.

"I know, I know. But I didn't know what to do...the moment was over."

"You are so cheesy. Uh, the moment was over," Jake poked fun, imitating his friend in a deep voice, making faces at the blonde.

"Dude, shut up. It was intense, you can't just jump back into something like that."

"Yeah...I know what you mean," they nodded in mutual agreement as the silence settled around them.

* * *

– '_Everywhere there's trouble, nowhere's safe to go. Pushes turn to shovels, shoveling the snow. Frozen you have chosen, the path you wish to go. Drifting now forever, and forever more' – _

"What should I do?"

"You need to talk to Lucas."

* * *

– '_Until you reach your shore, breaking into pieces, pieces, pieces. Just driftwood, hollow and of no use. Waterfalls will find you, bind you, grind you. And you really didn't think it would happen' – _

"So, what do I do?"

"You need to talk to Peyton."

– '_But it really is the end of the line, so I'm sorry that you turned to driftwood, but you've been drifting for a long, long time. You've been drifting for a long, long time. You've been drifting for a long, long - drifting for a long, long time' –

* * *

_

**I can't say this chapter was too exciting, but I think you all might like it ;-). Anyway, I know I tease a lot, but they'll be apart for a while longer - for drama and story purposes. The song was "Driftwood" by Travis - not off 12 Memories, but I need to save the other songs for some other plot lines in this.**

**Spoiler - Lucas and Peyton will talk / A little later things _will_ come between them...**


	8. The Beautiful Occupation

**12 Memories**

**Chapter 7 - The Beautiful Occupation**

**Author's Note - Not sure if anyone reads these, but thanks for the reviews! This may be a bit shorter for the sake of updating - but I hope you like it anyway. Enjoy!**

**The walk to **Haley's house was a lot shorter than he thought. It didn't take much thought to know that Peyton would be there, she always was when something went wrong - and something had definitely gone wrong. Up the stairs he went but still, what would he say to her when he saw her?

* * *

– '_Don't just stand there watching it happening, I can't stand it, don't feel it' – _

**Haley answered the** door slowly, not surprised when a broody blonde haired boy was located in front of her house. She looked back to the blonde on her couch, trying to signal that all of her problems had repositioned themselves to sit on her steps. Peyton heaved a sigh, and stood to go to the door.

"Can we do this later?" she questioned, silently begging he'd see her confusion and agree.

"It's better if we do it now, you can't always run from everything," he snapped. Over the years of being friends with her he'd gotten sick and tired of her always running. She was never able to just stand up and face her demons, it was always close the door and run - something he'd grown to hate.

"I'm not running, Lucas. I'm just putting it off...I can't do this right now, I can't handle this right now," she insisted and he rolled his eyes.

"What can you do?" he asked bitterly, the tension between them finally becoming apparent.

"Don't let this ruin us, please?" his eyes softened slightly at her pleas. It was the last thing he wanted. He didn't want their friendship to be screwed up because he let his hormones get in the way, but it almost seemed inevitable to him now.

"I don't want it to..." he trailed off as she averted her eyes from his ever-present stare.

"Then don't let it. Just think about it, give me some time to sort through it," he stared at a few stray stones on Haley's walkway. It would take more than _some_ time to sort through his feelings.

"I want to give you time, but if I do I won't be able to say what I need to. We have to do this now," his persistence was beginning to annoy her.

"Well, I'm not gonna, I'm sorry. I can't and won't do this right now, Lucas," she made direct eye contact before walking down the stairs and taking off, away from the world she was living in. Away from the confusion - to think that only hours before her world had been perfect.

* * *

– '_Something telling me don't wanna go out this way, but have a nice day then. Read it in the headlines, watch in on the TV, put it in the background, stick it in the back, stick it in the back, for the beautiful occupation' – _

**The brunette stood** in the silence as Lucas sighed and walked back toward the direction Peyton had run. She knew she had to do something, she couldn't let him go. It was the last thing the blonde needed.

"Luke." He turned to face her, raising his eyebrows as if asking 'what?'

"Let me do it."

"Yeah."

Haley knew she could run, Peyton was more in shape than most people thought. Lucas walked back toward his own house as Haley flew down the steps after her friend. She ran as fast as she could, unsure of where the blonde could be by that time. As her fit hit the dry pavement, it hit her.

She cut through a neighbor's yard to get to the park across town, the opposite corner of town from the River Court. It was the only way to escape Lucas. She came to a house, a long driveway peaked out from the left side where Haley jogged up the asphalt and past the swings. It took only a few minutes before she came to a wall of bushes, she pushed through to find a small dirt trail that went up a little hill. She could vaguely remember Peyton describing the small sanctuary as a place she went that not even Lucas knew about.

* * *

– '_You don't need an invitation, to drop in upon a nation. I'm too cynical, I'm just sitting here, I'm just wasting my time. Half a million civilians gonna die today, but look the wrong way then' – _

"Peyton," she called quietly, the night air still surrounding them. Two AM was obviously closing in around them as Haley pulled her cell phone from her pocket, the glow lighting the area around her.

She headed up the trail, her eyes searching frantically for her friend. _'Where the hell is she?'_ It was a steep hill but she continued, her cell phone still lighting her way.

"Peyton," she tried again and this time she got a response.

"Keep walking," the blonde replied in a whisper. Haley walked upward and came to a clearing that looked out over the beach.

"Wow," she was speechless.

"Yea," Peyton smirked, almost a little disappointed that the little spot was no longer only hers.

"How did you find it?"

"When I was little, right after my mom died Lucas was with me every second of the day. Making sure I was okay, checking if I needed anything. It was like I was suffocating under his presence. Don't get me wrong, he was a great friend, and he really wasn't doing anything wrong, but I needed to get out some days. So I knew the farthest place from him was this park and so I came here. After a while I got anxious so I started walking around, looking for anything to take my mind off of what was going on around me. I poked my head around in the dirt near the bushes looking for bugs - I was such a tomboy," she giggled at her own childhood.

* * *

– '_Read it in the headlines, watch it on the TV, put it in the background, stick it in the back, stick it in the back for the beautiful occupation' – _

"So, I was digging and the bushes weren't as thick when I was nine so I saw a trail, went through the bushes and got here. No one else knows about it...well you do, but other than that."

"It's really cool up here."

"Yea, I know. But, listen I'll let you use it if you want, just one condition. Don't tell anyone, not Brooke, Jake, Nathan or Lucas, especially not Lucas."

"You have my word...do you want me to leave now?" she was mad at herself now for interrupting Peyton in her space, she waited for the reply.

"Nah, have a seat," she patted the dry grass next to her.

Haley positioned herself comfortably next to the blonde, both of their eyes focusing on how small they really were as the oceantides washed the sand away.

"So, guys suck," Peyton said with a laugh, breaking the night silence.

"Yea, they really do," Haley replied, equally humored with Peyton's attempt at a joke. "You tired?"

"Not in the least...you?" the blonde looked over to Haley, her eyes filled slightly with her own salty tears over Nathan's inability to want her, her lack of relationships. And the one she wanted to work for, the jackass boy didn't even want to try.

"More worried than tired," she admitted.

"Hales," she wasn't sure what else to say, so instead she grabbed the small girl, wrapping her in a hug that wasn't just for her - it was comforting her own heart too.

**Short and not that exciting, but it's needed for the plot. You'll see. The song was "The Beautiful Occupation" by Travis, and I hope you all enjoyed it. I'll try to update this as soon as I get the chance if you want me to - review and let me know :-)**


	9. No Longer Belong Here

**12 Memories**

**Chapter 8 - What If**

**Author's Note - **I'm really glad you all enjoy this! Things may start to go a little downhill for Lucas and Peyton, but keep reading and going with it. We'll get there eventually. This also might be a little shorter but I'm trying to get the updates up a little faster so just stick with me here. Enjoy :-)

* * *

– '_What's so wrong? Why the face so long? Is it over? And where you going that you no longer belong here?' – _

"I can't unload my problems on you," Haley mumbled from where she was tucked in Peyton's welcoming arms.

"I'd rather think about your problems than mine," she replied dryly, receiving a small giggle from the brunette.

"I know...look, I don't wanna pressure you, Peyton, but you should talk to Lucas..." she trailed off, straightening herself up and wiping the grass away from her pants.

"I know. I really don't wanna wreck everything we have going though. He's my best friend, Haley, I can't lose him. What if we break up? Then it's over and there's nothing I can do," she sighed. "Plus, I don't like him like that, I'm just not over Jake yet," she pushed convincingly, still in the process of convincing herself.

"That's no excuse. What if you don't even try, then you'll never know what could've been. You can't go through life with that 'what if' hanging in the air. You'll regret that for the rest of your life," Haley pulled her own first hand experiences into the matter - remembering what Nathan had said about not trying only days before.

"I know, I know...but Jake called..."

* * *

– '_And distance tells you that, distance must come between love, where have you been luv? When the mistake we made, was in never having planned to fall in love, luv' – _

**Walking down the **empty streets seemed to be a burden to the skinny blonde, she didn't even have to think about where she was going at 4 AM. Her feet could automatically take her there, even if she was blind she couldn't see getting to the River Court as a problem.

Haley had gone home less than ten minutes ago, and she only left under much protest. The last thing Peyton wanted to do was go to Lucas, but she also couldn't spend any more time avoiding him. She could pretty much guarantee that Lucas was not at home sleeping like the rest of Tree Hill, and when she approached her destination the sound of a basketball hitting the asphalt confirmed her thoughts.

He saw her walking from where he stood, he should've known she would come back and now he didn't know what to say to her. For the first time in his life he didn't know what to say to his best friend, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to say anything to her. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to see her.

He continued to put the orange ball through the net that hung above him as she came closer. It was painfully obvious that he was mad, that he was in no mood to talk, but she persisted.

"Lucas," she insisted, he still made no move to look at her. "Please, answer me?"

He turned his head slightly to make eye contact with her, unsure of what to do he chucked the basketball away from them and took a seat in the middle of the court. It was a place they had unofficially claimed theirs, it was where they always ended up. Some of her most cherished memories with him were spent in the middle of the River Court.

"What do you want Peyton? Did you come here to run again?"he snapped bitterly.

"If you're gonna be a dick about it, Lucas, I'll leave. If that's what you want, I'll go," she turned on her heel to walk away, hoping he'd find a way to call her back. She got a good distance from him before she heard anything.

He sighed, realizing either they talk right then or he let her go. And the last thing he wanted was to let her go. So, he sucked up his pride and took off at a run.

"Peyton, just wait a minute," he called out after her, she stopped to turn to look at him. A small smile tried to peek out, knowing he came after her but she thought better of it.

"Can we talk?" she asked quietly, noticing the pain evident in his eyes with her absence.

* * *

– '_Singing this song, singing along, makes it easier for me to see you go, but in doing so I'm letting you go. It only serves to show me, that I'm still in love with you' – _

**Haley made her** way home, through the dark streets of Tree Hill, fully aware of every small noise that made itself present in her ears. She had never been fond of the dark, especially at 4 AM. But she had no way home, having run after Peyton had left her without a car and very scared of every rustle in the leaves. But what could she say? - she'd watched one too many horror movies as a kid.

It was when she heard a car pull up behind her that her heart nearly jumped into her throat and she took off running. Her legs wouldn't move fast enough to get her ahead of the car, and it was only when she heard her own name did she slow down enough to look at the driver.

"Haley?" a dark haired boy questioned from his spot in the driver seat.

"Nathan?" she squinted through his headlights enough to see his lopsided smile. She had to admit, he was cute no matter how mad she was at him.

"What're you doing out here at 4 in the morning?"

"Shouldn't I ask you the same thing?" she retorted, he smirked at her constant need to be the one to show him up. She had always been like that though, probably part of what attracted him to her in the first place.

"C'mon lemme give you a ride, you looked a little freaked out anyway."

"I don't need a ride from you," she snapped, he winced under her tone.

"We can talk on the way? Or we can stop and get a hot chocolate or something?" he offered her everything he had, doing anything in his power to get her into his SUV. The last thing he wanted was a small girl like her wandering the streets at night. Not to say that Tree Hill wasn't a safe place, it was one of the lowest in crime, but still, for her safety and his need to talk to her, he wanted her in the car.

It was much debate in her mind, everything in her was saying not to go, that he had done enough damage already. And only the one thing she had never listened to before - her heart - was telling her to go, that it might be worth it. So she took the advice of an old 80s song and opened the door of his SUV. She listened to her heart, praying that this one time it would be worth it.

"Hot chocolate?" she questioned tersely. He nodded and stepped on the gas, flipping the radio station over to his cd player, a rock song played through his speakers. Enation's, Eyes of Grace floated through the stale air in the car, she knew the song but never expected him to ever in a million years listen to that music.

"You like the song?" he asked, observing her movements.

She nodded, "I didn't think you would though," she admitted to the boy.

"Oh, the rap masquerade? Yea, I'm not really partial to either, but I can't really play this stuff at a party so I keep this to myself," he smiled as she turned to look out the window, her lips silently moving with the words.

"_Watch the rain drops cry, I've got nothing left but you tonight, I'll give you everything I am, just give me every part of you..."_

She watched the lights in a blur from her spot in the car, the music surrounding her. She could very easily connect the song to him, and it was when he started singing along, horribly, that she found everything about him undeniably endearing...and maybe a little sexy now that she put it into careful consideration.

"_I know what I used to be, I know what I used to think, I know what I could be, without your love in me. I know the things I used to say, I know the things I used to do, I know what I would be without your love in me. See me through the eyes of grace, see me through the cross of love, see me not for what I was before your love in me. I could set your soul on fire, I could give you sweet desire, I could make your spirit sing with my, my love in you. I could set your soul aflame, make you tremble at my name, I can make you who you are, with my, my love in you..."_

It was somewhere around that time that she knew she had fallen in love with the boy next to her, even after all of her protests, all of the denials - she had fallen hard. And she wasn't sure if he was in that place, she wasn't sure if he was on the same page but she couldn't stop the aching feeling she got when she wasn't around him. There was nothing she could to stop thinking about him at night right before her eyes closed. And she desperately wanted him to be there, she desperately wanted him.

* * *

– '_So what's wrong? Why the face? So long, are you changing, and where you been to that you no longer remember?' – _

"Peyton..."

"Lucas..."

Simultaneously they both cracked smiles, sitting themselves back in the middle of the court, Peyton adjusted her jacket, he seemed to be lost deep in thought as she hit his shoulder a few times.

"Whatcha thinkin about?" she teased him, he smiled before his eyes darkened and she knew he was serious. And she cursed him for always being the type of guy who could never let anything go.

"That we need to talk," he responded, she cringed knowing full well that she couldn't escape him this time.

"I know."

"Should I start since your obviously not a conversation starter tonight?" she nodded, reluctantly and he took a deep breath. "Okay...what do you want this to be, Peyton?"

And she sighed with his tone, it was a tone she only got from him when he wanted answers - answers she wasn't ready to give him.

"I don't know..."

"But we're sitting on the beach and you're talking about our connection and about if we're more than best friends and you tell me you liked me only hours before...and now you're running from me like I'm the black plague? Am I missing something?"

"You're not missing anything...I just don't think I'm ready for an us. I don't want it to change our friendship, I can't lose you, Lucas. You're the most important person in my life and if I lost you...I don't know if I'd be able to live. I know we have a connection, I can feel that, but you said it yourself. We're not ready for something like this. And plus, how do I know my hormones just aren't all over the place...I mean I did just break up with Jake," she pointed out and he nodded, somehow finding himself denying everything she said. She wasn't right, he was right and the urges to touch her were putting him into overdrive.

"Because you do like me, you do want me -"

"Little high on yourself," she cracked, trying to lighten the mood, break the tension around them.

"Just...just let me finish. This isn't about Jake or your feelings for him, or anything that went on. This is about you and me, Peyt. And every day it's getting harder for me to look at you and know that I want you, more than ever. That day on the beach got me thinking, and as much as I want you as my best friend, I need you as more. I need all of you, every day. I know you felt it, on the car. Look me in the eye and tell me you didn't feel what I felt," he challenged everything she had just told him, every excuse she pushed forward was pushed back. And she felt open and vulnerable.

"I...didn't," she lied, it took everything she had to say those words, to tell him she didn't feel all of the emotions that had come with their closeness.

"You're lying. Whether you take this chance or not, our friendship is changed, Peyt. We can't go back to the way we were, not knowing what's still there. We have to take this chance, I can't, I won't live with all the what ifs, I have to know for sure."

"I didn't feel it, Lucas. There's nothing there, but us being best friends. It's four thirty in the morning, you're not even thinking straight, I'm just gonna go and we'll talk later," she stood to leave again, her cold breath permeating the chilly night air. She took only a few steps before she heard her name again. She kept walking until she reached his car, only stopping when the truck was directly in front of her. _'Stupid, you trapped yourself. Idiot!' _she scolded.

"Peyt," she turned to see him coming closer, her breath catching in her throat.

"Okay, maybe you didn't feel it at the car, maybe you're not lying...but I think we both know you are. And if you didn't feel it at the car, can I ask you one question?" he took another step forward.

"What?" she breathed, his closeness over taking her logic, her brain was going cloudy.

"Can you feel it here?" he stepped in again, blocking her against the car.

"Luke...don't," she tried.

"I have to, I have no other choice," he leaned in, her eyes closing in instinct, he came closer, she could feel his breath within millimeters and her cell phone went off. Jake's name now flashing instead of Haley's.

"Shit," she cursed under her breath, both of them shaken from their bubble.

"Hello?"

"Peyton, I thought you'd be up. I was just wondering if maybe we could go get some coffee around six?"

"In two hours!"

"Well, you're not planning on going to sleep now, are you?" he chuckled.

"No, I guess not. I'll see you then, bye Jake."

"Bye, Peyton, see ya soon."

* * *

– '_And distance tells you that, distance must come between love, where have you been luv?' – _

"Sooooooo," Nathan drew his words out, his hot chocolate keeping his right hand warm while the left suffered in his pocket.

"So?"

"How are...things?" he shook his head. The conversation wasn't going the way he'd planned.

"Things?"

"I dunno...life, school, tv?" again he scolded himself for being so bad with words when he was around her. But she laughed at the awkward conversation.

"Not bad, really good, and I don't watch much of it?" she named off his questions and he chuckled at her answer, he should've expected that answer from her.

"I really didn't want it to go this way, I had a plan ya know," she nodded, taking a quick sip of the hot liquid in her cup.

"So, what was the plan?" they had fallen into easy banter, which she was afraid of, it very easily crossed into flirting which was the last thing she wanted.

"My plan...well my plan was to seduce you into sleeping with me, of course," he stated matter-of-factly and she began to laugh hysterically. He raised an eyebrow, sending a look her way. "Am I not good enough for Haley James?"

"Nope...only Prince William is good enough for me, plus he's way cuter, like duh..." she gave him a blank stare before cracking a smile and winking, walking away from where he stood. He ran to catch up, falling back into step with her.

"So, you don't think I'm cute?"

"Did I say that?" their flirting amused her, it came so easily with him.

"But you didn't say I was either...I think you are," the flirting had died down and it was becoming serious.

"Nathan-"

"No, I'm serious. And I'm rethinking what you said...back at Brooke's house."

"What did I say?" she had tried to forget, tried so hard to push all of it out of her mind.

"You looked at me and asked if I wanted to try...and I do. I wanna be with you, I don't want to regret it ten years from now, can you give me another chance?" he pleaded with his eyes.

"I don't know," she answered honestly, walking away from him in the direction of her house. He watched, hurt, he hadn't really been rejected much, and the one girl he wanted had just walked away when he swallowed his pride and took a risk. So much for everyone pushing him to take that chance, everyone had been so sure she would let him in, but he hadn't been. And now for once in his life - he didn't want to be right.

* * *

– '_It's just the chance we took, having never planned to fall in love, luv. Having never planned to fall in love, luv. **Having never planned to fall in love, luv**' – _

"I have to go, Luke. That was Jake, I'm gonna meet him for coffee in two hours. I'm sorry," the hope that his eyes held only minutes before was now dashed and all that was there was devastation.

"Are you really going to do it?"

"Do what?" she was bewildered, his question wasn't clicking in her mind.

"Let him back in? Trust him again? Are you going to let him back in before I ever get the chance? How is that fair?" he was angry with her, she was willing to let the one guy who broke her heart into a million pieces back into her life. Yet, he, the one guy who never hurt her was the one she wasn't even willing to take a chance on.

"I don't know. I don't have to explain myself to you, Lucas. I don't have to justify my decisions or ask your permission to do what I want. And if you think I do, you're dead wrong. I suggest you back off," she was clearly angry, stomping away, and lying to herself, trying to tell herself that her decision was wrong, but she was too proud to let him know.

"Damn it, Peyton!" he stalked after her.

"What do you want!" she glared at his equally angry face.

When he didn't respond she turned to walk, instead he took her wrist in his hand, spinning her face back to him and crushing her lips against his. It took her a few seconds to realize what was happening, her mouth easily parting for his entrance, her lips moving in rhythm with his. And when her brain finally decided to take a dive and step back in, she pulled back hesitantly.

"We can't do this..."

"Yes we can," he persisted, the feeling left in his mouth was unlike anything else. It was like time stopped for a brief moment.

"I can't do this, Luke. I won't wreck our friendship -"

"It's never going to be the same."

And that's when she felt the tears coming, knowing her whole world just got flipped again, and she hated change, despised it.

"I don't want it to change," she begged, and his eyes softened at her words. He wiped her tears away with the pads of his thumbs gently, he hated seeing her like that.

"It's the only thing we're guaranteed in life, Peyt - change. And I'm sorry it had to be like this, I'm so sorry. But I had to know, I couldn't let you leave without knowing. Let me in, let me have that piece of you, please," she turned her head away from him, furiously wiping at her tears.

"I want to, I do. But I've never given...that piece of me to anyone. I've never let anyone in so completely...not even you. You have so much of me, I don't know if I could give you all of it, everything you want. I won't let myself feel that open, I'll only get hurt in the end."

"You won't. I'll always be here, I'm not going anywhere."

"You can't promise me that. You've tried. My mom tried. Don't promise me that!" her tears fell but neither did anything to stop them. She turned again and took off at a run, down into the dark streets, away from him and he watched her figure retreat, paralleling his younger brother's defeated form.

* * *

**Geez, that took forever. But I love this chapter, I think it worked out the way I wanted. I know there was a lot of teasing and I'm sorry, but Peyton has some emotional issues to deal with first and Haley has some trust issues before either of them can let the guys in. **

**I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE READING, I SEE THE HIT COUNTERS FOR THIS STORY AND THEY'RE AWESOME. SO EVERYONE WHO IS BEING LAZY, _AT LEAST GIVE ME A REVIEW FOR THIS ONE_, ITS WHAT EVERYONE HAS BEEN BEGGING FOR. JUST LET ME KNOW YOU'RE READING THIS ONE TIME AND I'LL BE HAPPY FOR ANOTHER FEW CHAPTERS:)**


	10. Quicksand

**12 Memories**

**Chapter 9 - Quicksand**

**Author's Note - Wow, you guys blew me away with reviews on the last chapter, thank you so much! Okay, so I'm thinking of rounding this story off at 15 chapters, this wasn't meant to be long, mostly just about them getting past their issues and getting together. So here we go:**

**They arrived back** at Haley's house within two minutes of each other, startling themselves at the steps. The brunette took a breath and took in her friend's appearance, it was becoming clear that something had gone terribly wrong and that Peyton was a lot worse off than she was. No questions asked, Haley opened the door, letting them both into the small house. Peyton flopped backwards onto the couch, remaining in the dark and making no move to find a light. Seconds later she felt Haley repeating her actions as the cushions fell farther into the couch under her friend's weight. The brunette sighed, pulling a pillow into her arms, holding it tightly to her chest – Peyton just sat, she didn't know what to do with herself.

* * *

– ' _Take me away, take me away. You said that you were gonna stay, but you're always lying anyway' – _

**In his anger**, he walked back to the court, wandering around to find the ball he had thrown into the air only an hour before. He understood her fear of loss and her emotional issues, but he couldn't comprehend why she couldn't trust _him_, of all people. He was the only person who had never left her side, the only person who loved her unconditionally, and she meant the world to him – she knew that. Yet there he was, alone on a basketball court at five in the morning while Jake was getting ready to meet his best friend for coffee, and that was fair how? _What had he done wrong?_

**Nathan walked silently**, unwilling to face rejection. He left his car parked – he needed to walk, needed to clear his head. In honesty, the more he thought, the more of him thought the whole situation was ridiculous – Haley obviously didn't want him. And the strange thing was that no matter how angry he was, he couldn't blame her for her decision. He would whole-heartedly admit that he had been a Class A Jerk that day in Brooke's house, not even willing to try to be with her. But he had never been walked out on like that, he was Nathan Scott, girls would pay for him to have said those things. But he didn't want those girls, he wanted Haley James, and for the first time he really took a chance, put himself out on a limb, involved his heart in the matter and now it hurt like hell. And now he felt really bad for what he did to her that day, because now he knew the pain.

He continued his journey, but he stood still when he heard a constant thumping. Moments later he was making his way to the River Court, knowing only one person that would be playing basketball at 5 AM besides himself.

"Nathan," Lucas said coldly, not that his brother had done anything wrong, but for now he took it upon himself to be mad at the world.

He didn't offer a greeting for his older brother, instead he raised his head slightly in acknowledgment, and Lucas knew that his brother's night had been just as bad as his own. _Why do girls make everything so difficult?_ he asked himself, wondering what Haley did that his little brother looked like he just watched his beloved puppy get run over.

He pondered over asking his brother what the events of his suckfest of a night were, but thought better when Nathan started looking up at the stars. That was unusual, especially for Nathan, and Lucas considered that them having nothing better to do at 5 in the morning than wallow in their own misery was fairly pathetic. But if they were gonna do that they might as well do it over basketball.

He threw the orange ball between his calloused hands a few times before throwing it across the court to Nathan. The younger Scott's basketball instincts kicked in as he caught the ball with expertise.

Lucas raised his eyebrows towards the brunette, as if asking for a game and with no words Nathan dribbled the ball around a few times. In an attempt to warm up he ran up and down the court a few times, putting the ball between his legs for good measure. Finally when things in his aching heart started to settle he ran forward toward the blonde boy, faking his move and going right for a lay up. In his success he raised his hands, Lucas smirked, taking the ball and driving past his little brother. And for a little while things made sense.

* * *

– '_You're gonna suffer if you don't start breathing now. Now that I need you, you're going away' – _

**An old movie** played through the TV that sat in Haley's living room. Neither had tried to find anything on TV at that time, the television was only on to distract them, the noise was more help than the pounding silence. The blonde sat in the dark still, fidgeting constantly with her long fingers in a poor attempt to keep her mind off her meeting with Jake and the way she ended things with Lucas.

"I don't wanna go," she muttered from her spot, so quiet that Haley barely heard her.

"Where?"

"I agreed to meet Jake at the café for coffee, but I don't wanna go...I know exactly what it's gonna be like. We're gonna sit in an awkward silence for the first five minutes and then he'll let out a breath and start on this mind numbing speech about how sorry he is and how he should've been better to me. Then he'll ramble on about how he wants us to be friends, but somewhere in that speech I'll tune him out and he'll cross the line and get into how he wants me back and he'll do anything to get a second chance with me, that Brooke meant nothing. And the thing is, I'll take him back because I felt safe with him, I was comfortable with him. Maybe I wasn't happy or in love but I was secure," she finished with a deep breath as Haley plopped back down on the couch next to her.

Haley wandered off in her thoughts, absorbing everything Peyton had just described about Jake. Truthfully, she had never been extremely close to Jake, but she knew the type of guy he was and that he was a great friend, always willing to listen. But she could never recall a time when he was extremely trust worthy – reliable, yes – trust worthy, not so much.

"Then don't go," she told the blonde logically.

"Huh?" Peyton questioned as though it was the most outlandish action in the world, to not show to a meeting she had agreed to be present at.

"Just don't go. If you don't trust yourself to be strong with him, then don't go -"

"I have to," she interrupted. "I have to go. I told him I'd be there, I hurt him telling Jake I'd be there."

"Hurt who?" the whole conversation was starting to confuse Haley.

"Lucas. He kept insisting there was something between us tonight and he was about to kiss me, but the phone rang and I told Jake I'd be there. I saw the hurt in his eyes, I can't just not go now, it's the principle of the thing," she explained, as though it were painfully obvious.

Haley was shocked by Peyton's sudden confession of the night's events, though she had a feeling more had happened she told herself not to push and concentrate on the matter at hand. She had to pay attention to Peyton's current dilemma to keep her mind off of her own.

"Well, I'm not letting you go," Haley put her foot down, already set in her ways Peyton stared at her wide eyed.

"What do you mean you're _not letting me go_?"

"I mean, I'm holding you here against your will. Peyton, I can't let you go, what kind of friend would I be if I let you go? Think about it, Jake cheated on you with one of your closest friends who was dating your best friend, and I'll be damned if I let you get back with him only to get hurt again. You're better than that, you're stronger than that," she seemed proud of her speech as she finished, smiling happily at the blonde across from her.

Surprising herself, Peyton found her body moving towards the brunette, engulfing her in a bear hug. Haley also seemed shocked as she tensed, but relaxed slowly, letting herself welcome the gesture from her usually distant and unaffectionate friend.

"And that was for?" she questioned the blonde.

"For being a friend, I needed that. And it's settled, I'm not going," Peyton asserted her free will, not bothering to call Jake she stood, retrieved a blanket and situated herself on her friend's couch, motioning for Haley to do the same.

* * *

– '_Every day, standing in the quicksand, follow me down the drain. But it doesn't matter anyway, you're gonna get yours any day' – _

**It had been** a long hour of strenuous basketball, a game which they both took in the utmost seriousness, taking both of their minds off of the night's events. Though neither of the Scott's had ever felt the need to talk out their problems, Lucas pushed tonight, letting out everything between him and his best friend.

"I just wish, I wish she would let me in. I've always been there for her, always and Jake was the one who hurt her. Why is she considering meeting him? This should be a no brainer, this is as easy as it gets, ya know?" Lucas rambled on while Nathan listened silently.

"Maybe she just needs time," he inserted an opinion, leaving Lucas in his thoughts again.

"Time for what? She's had quite a few days to figure out her feelings, and she was the one who brought up the fact that we could be more at the beach, I'd never even considered it before and now I can't stop thinking about her..."

"Wait, wait, wait. You've never looked at her like that? Ever? If you say you've never wondered or been remotely curious you're either gay or a liar," Lucas laughed at his brother's shock, thinking back to when he'd been twelve, when his hormones were just beginning to kick in, when girls didn't have cooties anymore.

"_So yea, I was talking to Greg today and he told me he saw Joe Parker kiss Stefanie McMiller out on the jungle gym. Do you believe that? They were **kissing**," Lucas's eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he rattled off the information he'd heard from his friend at lunch._

_Peyton shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, brushing the gossip off as though she'd heard it many times before. Lucas nudged her in the arm, urging her to give him a reaction._

"_What? Stop poking me, Luke," she pushed him away slightly._

"_Well, what do you think? I mean that's crazy, Joe and Stef, kissing."_

"_Why is that crazy? We're twelve years old, we're gonna be thirteen at the end of the year, it's not really that crazy. Plus Stef has liked Joe since the beginning of last year, it's just now Joe thinks she's not infected with cooties like he did before," Peyton explained, Lucas tilted his head to the side, looking at his best friend in a whole new light._

"_Well...have you...no, never mind..." he stuttered_, _eventually giving up on his question and turning to watch the other kids run past them. Peyton looked over, waiting for him to continue._

"_Have I ever what? You can't just stop there."_

"_Well, have you ever kissed anyone?" he waited patiently for her answer, hoping that if she did she would've informed him of this monumental occasion in her life._

"_Nah, not yet. Besides, if I did don't you think I would've told you. You're my best friend, Luke," she looked at him like this was known to the world, that he missed the memo. "You haven't either have you?" she questioned him suspiciously, making sure the friendship was totally mutual._

"_No! Of course not. You're gonna tell me when **you** do, right?"_

"_Yea, sure. I dunno when that's gonna be though_, _no guys wanna kiss me," she rolled her eyes at the immature boys running around them._

"_Nuh uh, that's not true. I'd kiss you, but you're my best friend so I can't do that, it's like...wrong," he summarized, and she nodded, agreeing with his conclusion. Though at the time he had secretly wanted to kiss her, wanting to be the couple that people were talking about like Joe and Stef, but he kept it to himself, because she was his best friend._

"Okay, well I did when were like twelve and everyone was getting their first kisses, I felt left out so I thought maybe she'd be my first kiss. But that passed because she was my best friend and we decided it was wrong to kiss our best friends. So, I just never really thought about it again, it was like forbidden ground for us," he explained to his little brother.

"So, who was your first kiss?" Nathan questioned, a question that had plagued him for some time.

"My first kiss...my first kiss was Theresa back when she wasn't a ditzy, cheerleader who followed Brooke around like a puppy dog," Lucas concluded, defending his twelve year old self.

"What! Theresa!" Nathan laughed uncharacteristically loudly, his head falling forward as he tried to breathe through his laughs.

"Yea, man. It was a great night for me, don't wreck it."

_It was around nine o'clock that night and he was still at the River Court shooting around before he was due home at nine thirty. He hadn't heard the lone figure come up behind him._

"_Hey, Lucas," she called out from her spot on the grass._

"_Theresa? What are you doing here?" he questioned going to meet her._

_It had taken a few minutes before she began to cry, and he sat with her for the next fifteen minutes, patting her back as she told him about her parents divorce. She talked, and he listened intently, though they had never been close he didn't dare push her away._

"_Thanks for listening to all of that, Lucas. I don't really have anybody who would've sat with me like that. You're a good guy, I see why Peyton's such good friends with you," he smirked at her compliments, meeting her gaze._

_She made the first move, leaning into him, meeting his lips with her own, an awkward moment at first progressed very slowly. Time stood still for him, and when she pulled away shyly, he blushed slightly. She smiled sweetly, running off into the night, leaving him in the dark. Five minutes later he took off at a run to a curly blonde's house to inform her of his night._

"Well, what about you, Nathan? Who was your first kiss?"

"You really wanna know?" Nathan smirked, recalling the memory vividly. He knew that he topped Lucas's by a long shot. He watched his older brother nod before revealing his information.

"My first kiss...was Brooke Davis, beat that," Nathan watched his brother's shocked expression before falling into his own memories.

"_Hey, Nathan. Nice muscles," a thirteen year old Brooke flirted with the dark haired boy. He smirked his trademark smirk, flexing slightly as Whitey yelled from the sidelines._

"_Scott, get your head in the game and eyes off the cheerleaders!"_

_An hour later as practice ended he wandered out of the gym and started his walk home, adjusting his large duffel bag. It was only seconds later that he heard his own name being called._

"_Nate! Mind if I walk with you?" a brunette questioned him, he nodded, making small talk along the way._

"_So, kissed any girls lately?"_

_He looked down to his shoes, almost embarrassed with his lack of experience. Brooke giggled at his innocence, as she had already kissed three boys since she was twelve._

"_So, poor Nathan is being deprived of us girls," she winked at him, as he still felt inadequate next to Brooke Davis. _

"_Can we not talk about it?"_

"_I'll kiss you, Nathan, if you want..." she trailed off, awaiting his reaction._

"_Really!...Oh, I mean, yea sure...if you feel like it," he played off his eagerness, and she still smiled at him, he was bad at trying to act cool._

"_Sure, you ready?" he nodded, eagerly as they stopped their walk. He decided he needed to make the move, meeting her in the middle he kissed her, and she being more experienced, deepened the kiss slightly, leaving him on cloud nine as she walked away. He let out a breath, headed back to his house._

"Wow, you scored Brooke Davis on your first time out. Nice job, little brother," Lucas high fived the boy next to him as they laughed at their younger selves.

– '_And why you put the blame on me, if you could only see yourself as others see. Now that I need you, you're going insane' –

* * *

_

**The credits rolled** with an annoying song that played in the background, leaving the girls to laugh at the horrible voice that had begun to sing. They both sat, searching for a new movie at 6 AM, the time she had agreed to meet Jake. And it was then that she began to feel bad that he would be sitting there by himself waiting, but she knew Haley was right in not letting her go. And she thanked the girl next to her every day for being strong when she couldn't be.

"So, you hungry?" Haley let the question float in the air, awaiting her friend's answer which came shortly after.

"Hell yea, I feel like I haven't eaten in years," Peyton cheered the suggestion receiving a laugh from the girl who stood and wandered off into the kitchen.

"Well, we don't have much, but I'm going to assume that you don't wanna go out because Jake is currently at the café and Lucas is god knows where, but I can safely say he didn't go home to bed after whatever happened between you two. And I sure as hell don't wanna run into Nathan, so -"

"So, that therefore means peanut butter and jelly!"

"You read my mind, Sawyer," Haley teased the blonde, as they laughed retrieving the needed materials.

* * *

– '_Every day sinking in the quicksand, follow me down the drain. Every day drinking in the same bar, drowning my sorrows away' – _

**Minutes later they** were seated at Haley's kitchen table, each with a sandwich and a glass of milk in front of them. Peyton contemplated asking, she didn't wanna push Haley because she hadn't tried to push her, but she couldn't let Haley bottle it all up. Bottling it up was her specialty and in the end she knew it was gonna hurt, so was it better to save Haley from making those mistakes?

"I don't wanna push you or anything, Hales, but what happened with Nathan? You looked like I felt when we met at the door earlier..." she let the question sit, watching the brunette's expression change from content to dark. "You don't have to answer, I just thought I'd put it out there if you wanted to talk," Peyton stammered, not wanting to anger the girl next to her.

"I know you're there, but I can't go back through all of this right now. You don't wanna hash out your night with Lucas right now do you?" Haley snapped, Peyton winced at her tone, her eyes traveling back to her plate, unable to look up at her friend. It was then that Haley regretted her words, trying to find the words to form an apology.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know you're there if I need to talk, and the same goes for you if you need to talk. I guess, I just need some time, you know how that is," Haley rambled slightly, watching Peyton.

"Yea, I didn't mean to push you, I just know what it's like to bottle all of that up, and trust me, it's not good. I just didn't want you to go through that," Haley nodded at Peyton's words, absorbing them and taking a good hard look at what she had become. Maybe she did need to talk, but she didn't have the words to explain her feelings.

"Maybe you don't have the words right now, but I'm here, Hales. We both had sucky nights, its probably not good to push your only friend away," Peyton stuck her tongue out at the brunette, teasing her lightly. Haley laughed at Peyton's attempts to lighten the mood, nudging her with her elbow and taking another bite from her sandwich.

They would have to stick together for a while – they were all they had.

**Ok, I think it turned out okay, not really what I was going for, but not bad nonetheless. I love the Peyton/Haley friendship if you can't already tell so that'll be a pretty major point in this story. Also, for those of you hoping for a Brooke reconciliation, I'm working on that for one of the upcoming chapters, so keep an eye out. Anyway, this was a bit of a filler chapter, but it was necessary SO IF YOU LIKED IT AND WANT AN UPDATE – REVIEW!**

**REVIEW** **- don't be lazy, log in and tell me what you thought, it takes a few seconds to review but they mean a lot to me as a writer. So, review!**


	11. Happy to Hang Around

**12 Memories **

**Chapter 10 - Happy to Hang Around**

**Author's Note - Okay, this is one of my most popular stories so far, but only 3 reviews? Come on guys a little support here. I'm updating because you're reviewing. I mean I like writing but I'm not writing this just for myself. I got like 78 hits for the last chapter, but 3 reviews. Maybe the last chapter wasn't all that great? I don't know, but hopefully this one is better. This is gonna be a long one. Enjoy.**

**It was only** ten minutes into another movie that a knock sounded on Haley's front door. Being it was only around 7 in the morning they were both baffled as to who would be knocking. Immediately both of their thoughts went to the two boys who they'd both left broken in the night streets of Tree Hill. Without words they both seemed to ask if they should answer and in the end it was Haley who walked to the door, opening it to find a surprisingly somber brunette on the other side of the door.

* * *

– '_They were following me, they were following everyone. They had visions of me holding hands walking into the sun' – _

**Nervously, she looked** between the two girls who sat in Haley's small house, her mind filled with what they thought of her. She knew she was in the wrong this time, but she desperately needed to make up with these two girls, she needed her friends back even if it took her all night to get through to them. She was going to try, she wasn't the bitch everyone thought she was, she had feelings too and at that moment, she was hurting too.

"Brooke?" Haley stammered, wondering what she was doing, but giving her credit for having the guts to show her face in front of Peyton. Peyton scowled from her place on the couch, she was in no mood to go through things with Brooke, she was running on no sleep, she was dangerous to mess with – Brooke knew this.

"Hey, Haley," Brooke threw out, hoping to keep things light between all of them. She hadn't come to fight anyone that morning.

"Um, I hate to be the blunt one here, but what are you doing here, Brooke?"

She was taken aback by Haley's need to get things out in the open, she had never been that way. Brooke faltered in her quick answer, giving herself a few moments to gather her thoughts. To tell them what they needed to know without things going sour – she refused to loose these girls.

"I just...I need to talk to you guys. Just give me a few minutes. I know neither of you want me here, but please just a few minutes," she begged. Peyton, stunned by Brooke's pleading, nodded as Brooke took a few steps into the house. Brooke had never been a begger unless the situations absolutely called for it, apparently this situation did.

"You've only got a few minutes, how bout you start talking, Brooke?" Peyton pushed, awaiting her explanation for the things that had gone down over the past few days.

"I guess I don't really have an explanation for any of my actions of the last few days. They were uncalled for, I admit that." Peyton scoffed, but Brook did her best to keep going. "

Everything I did was wrong, and I never meant for any of it. Not that you didn't expect to hear that crap, but it's the truth here. I got jealous, Peyton. Lucas was always leaving me, running off to you all the time, I just didn't know what to do. I thought I was losing him, and I'm Brooke Davis. I wouldn't let myself be dumped for someone else so I figured I'd out do him. I went after Jake to get back at you , I guess. To get you for taking Lucas away from me. I never really thought about your friendship, I've never had a friend like that, I've never shared anything like you have with him. I guess that's why I'm here apologizing," she finished, watching the blonde's features.

"I'm sorry," was all Peyton could come up with, leaving both Brooke and Haley bewildered.

"What are you sorry for?" Brooke questioned, her mind reeling.

"I'm sorry for taking him, I'm sorry that you don't have that kind of friendship in your life, I'm sorry that you have that reputation that you think you need to live up to," she explained, leaving Brooke feeling worse about hurting a girl who could do nothing but apologize for her lack of relationships.

"Will we get past this?"

"Hopefully, I still want to have you as a part of my life, Brooke. You're one of my closest friends, I wanna work past this, I wanna trust you again."

"I'm working on it, P. Sawyer," her nickname brought a smile to the blonde's face as she invited the two brunettes to sit.

* * *

– '_Now people get down, people get down, people get hurt. And when you did it to me I was already in the ground. And I'll never get into your heart, no I don't even want to start' – _

"So, tutor girl, I hear you and the boy toy are having some problems," Haley shook her head, waving it off. Peyton rolled her eyes at Haley's faux nonchalant attitude.

"Oh, they are. In fact, Hales already flipped out on me earlier," she nudged Haley in the shoulder, a sing of teasing. Haley smiled, still not saying a word about her and Nathan's situation. Brooke giggled, still having never seen Haley get anywhere near mad it shocked her.

"So, our Haley is a little touchy on the subject of Nathan Scott?" Peyton shook her head adamantly at Brooke's question, Haley frowned.

"Can we do this another day? I don't feel like talking about it right now..."

"You never feel like talking about it," Peyton pointed out, leaving Haley scowling at both of them.

"So, what happened?" Brooke questioned as Peyton tried to put the story together.

"Apparently, at your house on _the_ day she and Nathan got in a bit of fight because Haley asked the dreaded question-"

"The what are we going to be, where are we going question?" Brooke gasped, shaking her head at Haley who sat glaring in the corner of her couch.

"Yep, that one. He said he didn't want to wreck their friendship with a relationship-"

"Hmm, so that sounds like someone I know..."Haley trailed off, Peyton frowned this time.

"Anyway, don't mind her. Nathan didn't want to wreck things leaving our Hales hurt. Then, she met up with him earlier where he tried to apologize but she took a play out of my book and walked away from him," again Peyton nudged her small friend, receiving a minuscule smile.

"Peyton, you're a bad influence," Brooke decided, Peyton stuck her tongue out at the brunette before Brooke continued. "Haley, you know Nathan's a good guy, he wasn't trying to hurt you when he pushed you away. That's just who he is, he's always cherished your friendship, I can see it in the way he looks at you. But he was wiling to try-"

"I don't wanna be hurt again," Haley interrupted.

"You wouldn't. When Nathan Scott puts his heart on his sleeve like that he has no intention of hurting you. He really likes you, Haley. I mean really likes you. Any hurt he caused you before was unintentional, he wants you," Brooke finished, with a satisfied smile then turned to her blonde friend, ready to confront her demons. Haley tried to digest the information, still staying quiet, mulling over her thoughts.

* * *

– '_I'll never get into your heart, I'm just happy to hang around, happy to hang around.' – _

**Peyton crumbled under** Brooke's unnerving stares. She stuck her hand up to wave Brooke's rant along, she had known it was coming. She took a deep breath before she started talking.

"So, P. Sawyer, I have not been out of the loop in your life either. I hear you and Broody have a little something going on," Brooke wiggled her eyebrows receiving a grin from both girls.

"Yes, dear Peyton has done some running of her own," Haley butted in, receiving nasty look from the curly blonde.

"Peyton, Lucas wants you, why not go for it?" Brooke quizzed, her mind racing as to what the hell these girls problems were.

"I'm not gonna wreck things, I refuse. He's my best friend, if things don't work I won't lose him," she retorted, Brooke nodding slowly.

"But things are already different, you can't go back to what you were now. Instead of losing him permanently because of all of this, why not try to be with him, that's if you want him in that way," Haley pointed out, leaving Peyton to wonder.

"I agree with Tutor Girl," Brooke shouted.

Reluctantly, Peyton began to speak, letting out some of her innermost thoughts, "I do."

"You do what?" Haley prodded.

"I...I do want him in that way, I just don't want things to change."

"Things are always gonna change, Peyton. You just gotta roll with it," Brooke explained, and Peyton nodded again at the information.

"He kissed me," Peyton told the girls, a squeal erupted from both of them as a smile tugged on the corners of Peyton's lips. "Jake called me as he was about to for the first time and I agreed to meet him at the café. Lucas freaked about how Jake hurt me and he didn't. I snapped at him and tried to walk away but he grabbed my wrist and he kissed me. I kissed him back for a second, but then I stopped and started crying. And then he asked...he asked for that part of me that I've just never given and I refused and ran. God, he probably hates me now," she finished, letting out a breath and watching their reactions.

"He could never hate you, Peyton," Haley spoke softly, absorbing everything that had happened. It finally dawned on her how much this was hurting Peyton, how badly she didn't want to lose him after she had lost so many people. And it occurred to her how Nathan was feeling about chancing their friendship.

"I miss him," Peyton admitted. For so long she had spent so much time goofing off with him, laughing, just having fun and now all they had done was scream. He had never made her cry, he had always been the one to pick her up and recently all she had done was cry. And there was something missing without having him around to talk to.

"It's like a piece of me is missing when I can't talk to him or be around him..."

"But?" Brooke pried.

"But even when I'm with him there's a void. It's like I don't have anyone in the world who knows me inside and out. Even Lucas doesn't know that part of me, that piece I've had hidden since my mom died. I'm just so scared of getting hurt," she sobbed, as Haley sat up pulling the blonde into her arms for a few minutes. Brooke took a hold of her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Peyton, you two have it made. This is as easy as it goes for a couple. You've always been friends, you have history, he knows you better than anyone, what if he's the one?" Brooke stopped, letting Peyton take some time for herself and then continuing. "If you never try, you'll never know. Can you live with that regret? Just go to him, even if it's just to talk things out. He's hurting too, and you know he'd do anything to have you with him right now," Peyton nodded once more, wiping her eyes of the salty tears.

"I'll go find Jake, sorta fill him in on the situation, so don't worry about him, you have to do this, P. Sawyer," Peyton stood, straightening her clothes out, determined to do what she had to do.

* * *

– '_Take a picture of me, and show it to everyone. No more pictures of you, no more love, no more setting sun. Now people get down, people get down, people get hurt' – _

**The boys remained** at the River Court, still discussing easier times, times when they didn't have to worry so much. When things weren't so complicated.

"So, you know I think our first kisses ended a lot better than our last ones," Nathan pointed out, Lucas laughed at his little brother's observation.

"Definitely," he agreed.

It was only minutes later as they continued to discuss how badly things had turned out over the last few days that Jake walked up. They offered for him to sit down and he accepted, joining in the kissing conversation.

"So, Jake, we were going over first kisses, how bout you?" he blushed slightly, shy to reveal his. "C'mon," Lucas teased, waiting for the answer.

"Haley," Nathan almost choked on his gum as Jake reveled his first kiss.

"_Hey, Jake," a thirteen year old version of Haley greeted as he sat on a swing by himself._

"_Hey," he returned._

"_Um, I just wanted to thank you for helping me with my project the other day. You didn't really have to, so I just wanted to say thanks," she shrugged. He smiled at how she had come out just to thank him for something so smal.._

"_No problem," he replied coolly._

"_Well, I'm gonna go then, thanks again," she mustered her courage as he stood to leave too. Quickly she kissed him, leaving him shocked as she ran. His cheeks flushed as he watched her._

"Wow, Haley had some courage when we were younger," Lucas said, Nathan still wondered why he couldn't get Haley to get that courage back.

"What about Peyton?" Nathan asked, coming to the realization that no one knew her first kiss.

"I'm not really supposed to tell," Lucas laughed at Peyton's threats when they were younger. Nathan whined as Jake sat.

"Okay, you can't say anything, but two days after Theresa kissed me, Peyton decided she couldn't be left out, so she kissed Vegas. Jake and Nathan fell into hysterics as Lucas relived Peyton's explanation.

"_I don't know what I was thinking, Luke. I just felt all left out, I mean Theresa kissed you and then Brooke got kissed by some guy so I just saw Vegas and we started talking. We had a swing jumping contest and then I landed on top of him. I just kissed him real quick and took off running. It was so embarrassing. You tell anybody any of that and I'll beat you up myself."_

"Luke!" Nathan shouted, waving his hands in front of his brother's face.

"Huh? What's up?"

"Jake asked you a question," he explained.

"Were you with Peyton this morning?"

"Uh, yea," Lucas stuttered, unsure if he was supposed to tell Jake that. Jake shook his head, things were coming together – that was why Peyton didn't show. But he wouldn't old it against her this time, she wasn't meant to be with him, he knew it from the beginning.

"Listen, man, I'm sorry about everything. It was my fault, I was an asshole," Jake tried to apologize but Lucas waved him off.

"Don't worry about it. Maybe it's better things happened this way because I got to spend the weekend with Peyton. Now I know where we both stand, and without everything that happened I'd still be with Brooke and honestly I don't think I was ever **really **happy with her," Jake winced, knowing Peyton felt the same way.

"I think I sorta knew Peyton was never happy with me, but I tried to keep her. I wanted her for myself, and I think she kinda resented me for that," he explained, leaving Lucas knowing Peyton did in fact feel the way he did, she was just better at holding it all in.

* * *

– '_And when you did it to me, I was already in the dirt. And I'll never get into your heart, no I don't even want to start.' – _

**As the girls** left Haley's house, all headed in separate directions, Peyton saw Jake walking just ahead of her. _Shit, Brooke was supposed to take care of him_, and she wondered what she should do. She couldn't run off in another direction now, she was stuck there.

"Peyton, can we talk for a sec?" she nodded, wondering where this conversation was headed. "I just wanted to thank you," she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. _He's thanking me?_

"What?"

"I want you to be happy, Peyton. It's all I've ever really wanted. And if you can't be happy with me then I want you to be happy no matter what, even if it's with Lucas. And if you came to the café I would've just been making you miserable, the last thing I want to do," he exhaled, knowing they were quite possibly the hardest words he ever had to say to another human being.

Unexpectedly, she launched herself into his open arms, hugging him tightly. "Thank you," she whispered near his ear. He had never meant more to her then he did at that moment. "You're a good guy, Jake, and you're gonna make someone very happy one day. Maybe she's right where you least expect her," she winked as she pulled away and walked off. He had to question her intentions with that statement but continued to wander down the streets early that morning.

* * *

– '_I'll never get into your heart, I'm just happy to hang around, happy to hang around, happy to hang around' – _

**Lucas also walked** the empty streets of Tree Hill, not sure where he was headed or who he was going to find. Strangely, he found Brooke in front of him, and he wanted nothing more than to turn around and walk in the other direction. His conscience took over as he walked up to her where he decided he owed her a serious apology.

"I'm sorry, Brooke."

"_You're_ sorry?" she was baffled by his words.

"Yea. I'm sorry that my mind was always somewhere else when we were together, and that I was never there when you needed me -"

"You don't have to apologize for any of that. I'm the one who cheated, don't you think I should apologize?" she teased the boy in front of her, receiving the trademark Scott smirk.

"Okay, first off, I tried to hard, Lucas. I tried to hard to get you to love me when I knew the whole time that you didn't, even if you didn't know it yourself. I knew you were meant for Peyton, but I tried to get you to want me anyway. I was selfish and then I hurt you and I'm so sorry for the Jake thing. But on the bright side, Peyton's looking for you," she ended her speech.

"I did like you, Brooke," he answered, trying to redeem himself.

"I know, but maybe it wasn't enough, Luke," she left him with a kiss on the cheek and headed off to find Jake, hoping Peyton hadn't found him first.

* * *

– '_And I'll never get into your heart, no I don't even want to start' – _

**Nathan was only** walking to find his car, unlike the other five teenagers that were on the street that morning. A small figure caught him off guard, then he awkwardly realized Haley was standing in front of him.

"Haley," he said, bitterly. Her eyes drift to the cement as she tries to explain.

"Nathan, please, don't be like that. I was so hurt that day when you didn't even want to try. And then when you caught me last night, I didn't want to trust you, I didn't want to feel that pain again."

"And you think it didn't hurt me the same way when you shot me down last night!" he asked, raising his voice. She cringed under his tone. "I put my heart out to you, Haley. Everyone told me that I needed to take the chance if I wanted you and I did only for you to say I don't know and walk away, HOW DO YOU THINK THAT FELT?" the tears filled her eyes quickly but she held them in, she wouldn't let him see her cry.

"I didn't mean for things to happen that way, Nathan. Please -"

"No, I don't wanna hear your excuses. Just stay away from me, Haley," he said coldy. His eyes - once so full of passion for her - were now filled with ice. He turned away, dejectedly walking away from the girl who stood in tears.

Only seconds later did he run into Brooke and Jake, each of them saw his expression. Brooke, being curious, decided to find out exactly what had transpired between him and Haley.

"What happened, Nathan?" he grunted in response, pushed past them and kept going.

Worriedly, Jake took off in search of Haley. They had been friends for a long while, always able to confide in each other when no one else would listen. Hell, she had been his first kiss and while those feelings had faded long ago he needed to help her when she was hurt. This left Brooke to go in search of Nathan – she need to know what happened, she needed to know what went wrong between the two people she thought were so perfect together.

* * *

– '_I'll never get into your heart, I'm just happy to hang around, happy to hang around, **happy to hang around' **– _

**Peyton wrapped her** arms tighter around herself though the night was relatively warm. She could smell barbeques from the neighborhood. She felt the rain hit her hair, her curls flattening to a matted mess against her head.

He ran quickly, the rain soaking him through as his feet hit the wet grass as he approached the River Court. This time he knew she was there, but he didn't expect to see her in that spot, but he knew she wouldn't have gone home.

She saw him enter, but she remained in her spot in the rain in the direct middle of the court. She pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on top of them, she had been in that exact spot almost 7 years ago. Her eyes were red from where he stood and walked to her, sitting next to her the same as he had done that night.

"Do you hate me?" she whispered, turning her head away from him.

"I could never hate you," he said softly, just as Haley had told her not long before. There was a beat of silence as the rain continued to fall.

"What're you doing here?" she asked the same question he had asked on the fateful night.

"I knew you'd come here, but no one else would," he replied, the same answer she gave him.

She smiled at his words, he was her very best friend. She leaned against him, unsure of what she could say to him at this point. He watched her, feeling horrible that he had changed things so drastically, that she was in so much pain with the idea of losing him.

"I'm so sorry, Peyt. We can go back to the way things were, if you really want," he offered as she shook her head.

"We can't. Things are different now. We've crossed that line," she explained.

"I'm sorry," was all he could get out.

"Don't be," she responded, catching him completely off guard. "I do want you, Luke. I want to give you that part of me, and I want to trust you completely."

"But?" he asked, knowing everything wasn't going to be this easy.

"But, I don't really know how. I've never given all of myself to someone, not physically, not mentally or spiritually. I've always kept so much of myself hidden from the world, I'm not really sure how to let it all out now," she explained.

"You don't have to give me everything now, I'll wait for you. I'm not pushing you into a relationship or commitment, just trust me, Peyton. I won't hurt you," he said sincerely, she looked up at him and never had she seen him look so earnest or sincere before.

"I know you won't."

"Then trust me, please," he pleaded, and she tried so hard to not give in. Finally, after all her contemplation she rounded up all the strength she could find to say anything else.

"Okay," she whispered in the early morning hours. He held her tighter, placing a kiss gently on her forehead. _Please, don't hurt me, Lucas_, she begged, trying to telepathically reach him because she couldn't go through anymore pain. He didn't say anything, 'okay' was enough for him, it was all he needed to give him hope.

**Okay, that was a long one, but I loved it. Hopefully it turned out okay, and it captured everyone's apologies and moving on right. I wanted everyone to be on good terms when this ends – only about 4 more chapters to go so it's gonna wind down a little. The song was "Happy to Hang Around" by Travis – its off the 12 Memories cd and it's awesome.**

**REVIEW, the more I get the quicker I update with a conclusion for what's gonna happen with Nathan and Haley & Lucas and Peyton. PLEASE REVIEW!**


	12. Follow the Light

**12 Memories**

**Author's Note: **Thanks so much for all your reviews! I love getting them and I'm glad you all like the way the story is going. I'm hoping I can find a way to fix Nathan and Haley, because I like them together too. Anyway, here we go.

**Chapter 11: Follow the Light**

– '_Nobody really knows where they're supposed to_ _go. Hiding behind a wall, afraid that they'll lose it all' – _

**She groggily opened** her eyes, the late afternoon light peering through her open window. Slowly, Peyton raised her arms above her head, and in the process of rolling over she bumped into someone else. She gasped quickly before she noticed the head of blonde hair, she smiled slightly, snuggling back under the warm covers.

"Mmm, I want food," he said lazily from his side of the bed.

"He's alive, he's alive," Peyton remarked, imitating an old movie they'd watched years ago.

"Haha," he replied sarcastically. She giggled, flipping over to lay on her back.

* * *

– '_But it's alright, just follow the light. And don't be afraid of the dark in the moonlight' – _

**It was nearing** six o'clock that night when they finally got out of bed. Having spent the previous night with no sleep she had decided she desperately needed to be in her bed. She also invited him to stay to which he graciously agreed, also in need of some shut eye. They had slept until five, only having the energy to face the world an hour later.

They both walked up to the café, and things seemed to be back to what they used to be. They were joking around, laughing, just being friends, something she could deal with for right now.

"Hey, Mom," Karen smiled at the two teenagers, noticing their closeness – but there was still something missing. There was still some form of emptiness – something that wasn't there before – and she couldn't help but see it now.

"Hey, you two. Burgers and fries?" she asked, though by now she wasn't sure why she continued to ask. They always got the same thing.

"Do you even have to ask?" Peyton teased. "He doesn't eat anything else anyway," and Karen laughed at Peyton's observation. He really didn't eat much else when they went out.

They sat across from each other at their normal booth, Lucas was quick to start a conversation. He had missed her, he had missed having someone to talk to, Nathan and Jake weren't the same. They weren't his best friend.

"So, what happened with Nathan and Haley?" he asked, his eyes gleaming with wonder.

"I only got some information from Brooke after she talked to Nathan. She said he told her Haley tried to apologize and get back with him, but he was pissed and blew her off."

"Is she ok?" he asked, obviously concerned with Haley's state, she thought it was cute.

"Haven't talked to her. I offered to help but Jake was with her at the time and then Brooke went over sometime after to stay with her for the rest of the day. Then when I said I was coming Brooke yelled at me and told me to spend time with you. So, apparently, I'm stuck you, Scott," she grinned as Karen came over to place their food in front of them.

"You know you like it," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively to which she just laughed.

"Yeah, okay," she continued to inhale her food.

"Hmm, ya know there are kids in like Ethiopia who haven't eaten in days who do not enjoy their food that much," he pointed out. She glared at him while he sat smirking.

"Like you're one to talk. When the six of us used to go out for dinner on Friday's you were the one who took everyone's plates scouring for the leftovers."

"That's because the portion sizes were so small. They were trying to starve people there," he defended.

"Mmhmm, whatever you say," she shook her head before focusing her attention back on the food. It was good to be okay with him again. Though she couldn't place her finger on it, something was different and she didn't know what.

* * *

– '_You'll dance till you fall, and always be here in my heart. But nobody wants to know, cause nobody even cares' – _

**Though many hours** had passed, Haley couldn't sleep. She laid restlessly on her couch while Brooke wandered through her kitchen looking for something to eat. She already knew she had nothing so she made no attempt to find anything. Her mood had quickly gone sour after Nathan walked off, things were just too complicated. Maybe they weren't meant to find their way to each other, maybe he wasn't supposed to be a part of her life that way. But did fate really matter if she wanted him in her life?

"Haley, you should get some sleep," Brooke walked through her doorway and back into the living room. She rolled her eyes, it was nice of Brooke to stay but nothing could put her to sleep at that point. The only way she was going to shut her eyes was for someone to just hit her over the head with a sledge hammer and knock her out for a few days - which at that moment didn't sound like a bad idea.

"I'm not going to sleep," she declared, lifting herself from the couch, "I need to go for a walk," she decided. Not waiting for Brooke's approval she slammed the door behind her.

It was six o'clock already and she had accomplished nothing but shedding a hell of a lot of tears and hurting her brain by thinking so much. Who knew a tutor and straight A student would get sick of thinking? – But she was.

She knew by now she wasn't running into Nathan, he was guaranteed to be home and while she wanted to talk things out, maybe it was a good thing he wasn't around. Maybe she needed a few hours to herself so she didn't have a nervous break down in front of him.

Her walk took her to the one place she didn't want to be, she looked up to stare at the Scott Mansion, her heart raced before she walked away. She didn't know Nathan stood watching her from where he stood in the backyard, he didn't know how badly she wanted to stay.

* * *

– '_Everyone's on the make, yeah and everyone's out for themselves. Me, I'm on the longest road, where everything's overload' – _

**The day seemed** to be passing quickly as she marched her way up to Nathan Scott's house. After spending two hours with Lucas his mom sent him on an errand run which she had opted out of. The last thing she felt like doing was spending an hour driving all over Tree Hill trying to find some type of baking sugar Karen needed, plus she had some of her own things she needed to accomplish.

She knocked loudly on his wood door, knowing his parents were away for the weekend. He answered with a disheveled look, his eyes blood shot from lack of sleep and his white t-shirt was wrinkled as though she had just woken him from his restless sleep.

"Peyton?" he was puzzled, here she was standing on his doorstep, waking him from the first five minutes of sleep he'd gotten in 24 hours.

"Hi, Nathan," he winced, she obviously didn't show up for a friendly visit.

"Um, so, what's up?" he tired to keep things causal, he was in no mood to be yelled at, he already knew what he cost himself.

"Don't play dumb, you know why I'm here."

"Well, I thought I could lighten things up a little so you don't come in and start yelling. I haven't slept in a day, you just woke me up and I feel bad enough. Can we do this calmly?" her eyes softened at his words, she couldn't stop herself from feeling sympathy for him too. He was just guarding himself from getting hurt again, the same as she was.

She nodded, expressing her agreement as he motioned for her to sit next to him. She did so before taking a deep breath. She had to do this, she couldn't let Haley hurt because Nathan was afraid of letting his guard down.

"What happened last night, Nathan?"

"What happened was I put my heart out on the line for her and she turned me down for no reason. Then she came back and tried to apologize and I turned her down. She deserved it-"

"She did not. She's been hurt before, that's why she was so scared of letting you back in, but she was ready. Maybe you should've just given her a chance to explain and let your guard down for a minute. She didn't hurt you purposely, Nathan, and she would never hurt you otherwise. Why didn't you even give her a chance?" to her surprise he began to laugh, she stood bewildered in his living room.

"What are you laughing at?"

"So, I should give her a chance because she wouldn't hurt me?" his face turned serious as he spoke again, "Give a chance because I won't get hurt the same way you gave Lucas that chance?"

* * *

– '_But I've got my heart and my soul, so don't throw me overboard, cause it's alright just follow the light' – _

**She promised Lucas** that she would see him at nine that night, sharp. It was 8:55 and she was on her way to his house. They were just planning to watch movies as they usually did on the nights they could find nothing better to do. She walked into the small house finding him in the kitchen rounding up the popcorn, skittles, sour patch kids and two bottles of Coke.

That was the usual array of food on those nights, he took the skittles and a bottle of Coke, she took the sour patch kids and a bottle of Coke and they shared the popcorn. It had been the same ever since she could remember the only difference was the movies got a little gorier and the serving sizes of the snacks got a little bigger.

"Hey," he smiled contentedly, tossing the sour patch kids to her.

"Hey. Need help?" she watched as he struggled with all the food.

"Nope, I got it. Just go have a seat and get the movies ready," he nodded his head toward the couch and she followed his instructions. Pulling the Blockbuster bag from the side of the couch she began to read off the movies he'd picked up.

"Hmm, let's see we've got The Ring, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Serial Mom?" she questioned his last choice, he just laughed while preparing the DVD player for their movie night.

"It's funny, believe me, I have a feeling you'll like it," he smirked as she chucked Serial Mom to him.

Twenty minutes later they were both seated on the couch, Peyton was nearly in tears as she laughed hysterically at the actions on the screen.

"Who is this?" a character asked.

"Mrs. Wilson from the telephone company. We understand you're having some trouble with an obscene phone caller?" Kathleen Turner's character played nice for a few minutes as Peyton tried to take a deep breath.

"Oh, Mrs. Wilson, I'm so sorry. These calls are driving me crazy..."

Peyton immediately bust out laughing a minute later as the serial mom went ballistic during the prank call. Lucas was laughing at Peyton now, just the sight of her in tears as she couldn't control herself made him laugh. He always loved seeing her happy.

Many hours later as the movie night ended, Peyton had begun to doze off on the couch. Lucas rolled his eyes, picking up a few bowls to clean in the morning. His mom was spending the night with Keith, they had gotten together a year before though neither wanted to rush things as they continued to date. He had the house for the night and probably the next day as his uncle informed him that he would be taking Karen to the beach for the day.

* * *

– '_You'll dance till you fall, and always be here in my heart. Cause it's alright, alright now. And you're alright, yeah we're alright now' – _

**He gently lifted** Peyton from the couch, carrying her into his room, placing her on her side of the bed. She sighed happily as her head hit the pillow and she pushed herself farther under the covers.

"Thanks, Luke," she whispered in her semi-conscious state.

"No problem. G'nite, Peyton," he crawled into bed beside her. He knew she was drifting in and out of sleep as she faced him, her eyes still closed.

"God, I love you," he whispered so quietly that the sound barely left his mouth.

"I love you too, Luke," a smile formed on her gentle features, he smiled warmly at her sleeping figure. If she only knew how serious he was when he made that statement. He wanted her in the worst way, but she wasn't his to have and it killed him. He wasn't sure if she'd ever give into her growing feelings for him.

* * *

**Okay, I think this chapter was needed, I needed Peyton to see her mistakes with Lucas and I needed Nathan to point that out. I also wanted to see Haley's distress. And personally, I just really loved the last scene so we'll see how all of that turns out. ONLY 3 CHAPTERS LEFT SO REVIEW NOW! Thanks.**

"**Follow the Light" - Travis**

**The more reviews I get the quicker I work to update!**


	13. Reoffender

**12 Memories**

**Author's Note: **Thanks a bunch for all of your reviews, hopefully the last chapter gave you a glimpse of their friendship again. I'm thinking this is one of the last few chapters as I'm gonna have an epilogue. I'm not sure how the story is gonna end, but I know the epilogue is gonna kind of throw an unexpected ending in there – so be ready for that.

**Chapter 12: Reoffender**

**She squinted at** the bright light coming through the windows in the room. It took her a few minutes to register where she was and when everything came together she recognized it as Lucas's room, though he was nowhere to be found. Upon glancing at the clock she found that it was ten thirty in the morning. She then noticed a note laying on the pillow beside her.

_Peyt,_

_Ran to open the café since my mom wasn't home. Didn't wanna wake you. Come on over for some breakfast when you wake up. See ya then._

_Lucas

* * *

_

– '_Keeping up appearances, keeping up with the Jones'. Fooling my selfish heart, going through the motions' – _

**A pair of** bells hanging on the door jingled as she stumbled into the empty café. She took a look around, noticing only one old man sipping his coffee with a newspaper in his other hand. A second later Lucas wandered out to the counter from the back, flashing her a smile.

"Hey, lazy," he threw a towel her way, laughing as she flinched before catching it.

"Make me breakfast, diner boy," she winked at his disgruntled face, but he went in the back to begin cooking, nonetheless. She let herself behind the counter to retrieve a cup of coffee, knowing that Lucas wasn't talented enough to multi-task for her.

She busied herself with refilling the empty salt and pepper shakers, making sure every table had the glass holders for sugar. He returned to find her flipping through an old newspaper that had remained on the counter for a few days.

"You ordered the pancakes, ma'am?" he laid the dish in front of her as she laughed at his antics.

"Why yes, sir. I do believe I did," she picked up the fork he had set down and began to devour the food in front of her. He shook his head at her eating habits and took a deep breath.

"So, I think I'm stuck here all day because Haley took another day off. Or well, I gave her another day off so she could deal with Nathan. Would you wanna stay and help me out?" his voice shook slightly, for some reason he still felt nervous around her, though he had tried his best to clear his feelings for her.

"Yea, sure. Not that I have anything better to do anyway," she stuck her tongue out at him from her spot on the stool, and he laughed.

"So, what I'm the last resort when you've got nothing better to do?" he bent down to place his elbows on the counter, he was eye level with her.

"Maybe, or maybe I just like spending time with you, loser," she half teased, half flirted with the boy in front of her. He shook his head again, walking off to the back to clean up the colossal mess he had made in his attempts to make pancakes.

And from watching Peyton eat them, he couldn't tell if they were any good – she ate anything he put in front of her so her opinion didn't count anymore, at least for the food. _It's nice that we can still be friends after all of that_, he thought, but something was different, even his mom had pointed that out yesterday. It was like they were going through the motions of best friends, but nothing was ever going to be the same, and he was sure she knew this too.

* * *

– '_But I'm fooling myself, I'm fooling myself. Cause you say you love me, and then you do it again, you do it again. And you say your sorry's, and then you do it again' – _

**Nathan put the** cordless phone up to his ear, he had already dialed the numbers and now he was waiting. It was his seventh phone call that morning to her house and still he got no answer. Instead he hung up and dialed another number he knew fairly well.

"Hello."

"Brooke, it's Nathan."

"I got that from the caller ID," she pointed out and he laughed before explaining his reasoning.

"Well, I just...I've been trying to get a hold of Haley all morning and I'm getting no answer at her house, and I know you were with her yesterday. I was just wondering if maybe you knew where she was so I could maybe talk to her..." he trailed off, hearing Brooke heave a sigh he winced.

"She went on a walk last night sometime, came home and slept and then I heard her leave again at like 6 this morning. She's hurting, Nate, if you're gonna talk to her, please don't hurt her," Brooke seemed to beg him and he smiled at her concern.

"I'm not gonna hurt her, I just wanna talk to her. I wanna work things out," he explained and she giggled.

"Woo, Tutor Girl is gonna be thrilled!" she cheered, Nathan ran his hand through his dark hair and let out a laugh.

"Bye, Brooke."

"See ya, Nate," she hung up happily, everything was gonna come together if she could just get the two stubborn, broody blondes to get their acts together.

Nathan took off at a run, abandoning his large house to find a brunette roaming Tree Hill somewhere. He ran past the River Court and there was no sign of her there. He ran past stores looking, past another park on the other side of town and finally came upon the beach. He squinted out towards the ocean, the sun blocking some of his view in the early afternoon. But even through the light he could see a small figure out by the waves. Haley.

He walked slowly out toward her, and when he sat he kept his space from her. He didn't know what she wanted, but he was determined to give her space to think, to clear her head and to decide if she wanted him there.

"What're you doing here?" she snapped, coldly. He cringed, she looked so distant in her spot.

"I came to find you...I thought maybe we could talk," he explained, the sand slipped through the gaping wholes between his fingers, just as Haley had days ago.

"I wanted to talk the other day, we see how that one worked out," she told him bitterly, he closed his eyes, sucking in the salty air that passed across the ocean.

"Look, I know I screwed up, Haley. I get that. But you're not even gonna give me another chance?"

"Wasn't planning on it," she shrugged and stood in anger.

"Damn it, Haley! I'm trying to apologize for being a jackass and all you're doing is cutting me off and pushing me away. You wanna sit here alone for the rest of your life then whatever, I don't care anymore," he went to walk off and she stood.

"Nathan, wait," she walked up to meet him, he turned to meet her eyes. "If you wanna talk, we can talk," she relented her bitterness to listen as they both sat back in the sand.

* * *

– '_Everybody thinks you're well, everybody thinks I'm ill. Watching me fall apart, falling under your spell' – _

**They had been** sitting for hours as the café was completely empty, not even a passer by on the street. He heaved a sigh before standing to retrieve a bucket and a large box of stale biscuits his mother had intended to throw out when trash day came.

"So, this is boring, let's play," he set the bucket on a table a mere ten feet away and laid the box on the counter. "It'll be like basketball, you just have to stay in your seat and every time you miss you have to move your stool back a few inches. Plus every time one of us misses we have to answer a question, any question," he grinned mischievously at the girl beside him as she picked up a biscuit.

She took the shot, the biscuit just made the rim, falling in with a clunk. She smirked victoriously as he gave her a pleased look. Next he threw his biscuit and after all of his days playing basketball, he missed the bucket.

"Ah, Mister Varsity didn't make the shot," he laughed, shaking his head at her teasing.

"Okay, okay, you earned your question."

"Hmm, let's see...are you okay with us just being friends?"

He seemed to lose himself in his thoughts for a few minutes before looking at her with the utmost seriousness. His eyes seemed to want to convey everything he couldn't say to her.

"Right now...I dunno, I mean it hurts but I think eventually I'll be alright with the way things seem to be going. You know I don't like fighting with you and I miss us, I miss having fun with you, so I'll take our friendship over not having you in my life at all," he finished, looking to find her with a satisfied smile on her face.

"I don't know what to say to that."

"You don't have to say anything, just so you know...now back to the game," he threw another biscuit this time making sure it went in. She missed the next one, predictable as he knew the last throw was made off of pure luck.

"Okay my turn. Do you think we'll ever be able to get back to what we used to be, or will we always have this weirdness between us?"

"What weirdness?"

"You know what I'm talking about, just answer the question," he met her eyes as she tried valiantly not to smile under his stare.

"Okay, um, honestly I don't know if things will ever be the same. But...we could start slow, I think things will work themselves out eventually and what's meant to be...will be," she took another biscuit from the box and shot, making it. And for another two rounds they both made their shots respectively until he missed again.

"Alright, so I don't really have any good-" an obnoxious cell phone ring tone began to play, she stopped mid-sentence to answer her father's call.

"Daddy!" her face lit up in pure joy while Lucas occupied himself with wiping the counters.

* * *

– '_But you're fooling yourself, you're fooling yourself. Cause you say you love me, and then you do it again, you do it again' – _

**They both sat** in the silence, watching the waves wash up the sand and roll back out. She called him back to talk but when they sat his mind went blank, he lost all of his logical thoughts.

"You said you wanted to talk..."

"I do, I just feel like I can't think when I'm around you," she blushed at his bluntness.

"Okay, so I'm gonna take that as a compliment," he laughed at her statement before trying to continue with the conversation.

"So, everything got screwed up in a matter of a few days, huh?' she laughed at his declaration, turning to look at him, but he kept his head.

"Yea, I guess it did."

"So, I think that's why I wanted to talk. I wanted to apologize for all of that, for hurting you before and blowing you off when you tried to talk," he told her sincerely, finally turning to meet her stare.

"Well, then I'm sorry for walking away when you tried to fix things the other morning," he nodded, averting his eyes to the sand.

"I really did like you, Haley."

"Did?" her face fell in disappointment.

"I still do. I still want you, I just don't wanna push you if you're still unsure. I'll wait until you're ready for all of this."

"I am ready," she spoke confidently.

He smiled, "Here's the thing, if we're gonna get into this we've gotta commit to it, Hales. You've gotta be able to trust me, and I've gotta be willing to try this. Which I am, so now the question is can you trust me? Like, really trust me," again he met her eyes and what she saw floored her. She saw sincerity and the future, but mostly she saw love, and in a way it scared her, but more than that she felt safe and she knew he wouldn't hurt her.

"I trust you, Nathan," he smiled triumphantly, the same smile he gave right after he won a basketball game, a smile showing how truly happy he was.

"Well, then...that's good," she nodded and as predictable and cliche it was he leaned in as her eyes fluttered close and right there on the beach, he kissed her.

* * *

– '_You say your sorry's and then you do it again, you do it again and again and again and again and again. But you're fooling yourself, you're fooling yourself' – _

**She stepped out **of the café to have privacy during her conversation, Lucas continued to stand in his spot watching her reactions to her father's words. It was twenty minutes later that she re-entered the café in tears. He rushed from his spot to gather her in his arms.

"So...I guess we can't start slowly like we planned," she sobbed into his arms, burying her face against his chest.

"Hey, hey, what happened?" he held her tightly against him, making sure she felt secure.

"My Dad...he said...I'm leaving, Luke," she cried harder but he was still confused.

"What'd you mean?"

"I mean he called and he wants me with him for my last two years of high school. He wants to be there but he can't keep his job if he moves back here, and he can't find anything close enough for us to keep the house here. I don't have a choice," he pulled her back, using the pads of his thumbs to wipe her tears away.

"We'll be okay, Peyt. We'll find a way. I can't let you leave," he whispered his words, continually wiping her tears.

"There's no way around this, Luke. I'm leaving in two days."

* * *

**Okay, so I know a little added drama in the last few chapters. I had to do it. I still haven't decided what to do with the ending just yet, but I do know that the actual ending may not be what you expect, but all in all I think the epilogue will please everyone. TWO CHAPTERS LEFT, REVIEW NOW!**


	14. Some Sad Song

**12 Memories**

**Author's Note: **I know I'm mean with the way I ended the last chapter, but don't worry, the epilogue will clear things up. **This is the last chapter of the story which will be followed by an epilogue.** So, enjoy this one and tell me what you think!

**Chapter 13: Some Sad Song**

**She packed her **last suitcase in a huff, she wanted nothing to do with her father at that moment. He would be arriving to pick her up in an hour and a half, it was like the last hour and a half of her life. Lucas said he would be around, but still he was nowhere to be found. Haley and Nathan had offered to come too, at least they were happy. Brooke had been there that morning but she had to run out, though she did say she was coming back with Jake. She was all alone in the last half hour, and honestly, it sucked.

* * *

– '_In the church, one day you'll get hurt. In the school, teacher's such a fool' – _

**He took his** time making his way to her house. He just couldn't comprehend the fact that she would be gone forever, his best friend was leaving him to grow up alone. He didn't understand how her father could just rip her away from her whole life, from everything she knew and loved, to be with him. She only had two years of school left, he couldn't get another job for a little while, just to make his daughter happy?

He approached her big house, knowing full well that it could be one of the last times he would ever walk in. He could hear her music blaring from where he stood on the steps and he remembered the many days they would just lay on her bed with the volume as high as it would go and they would just listen. It was just something they enjoyed doing together, and now that it was no longer an option he was going to miss it.

* * *

– '_And if they would ever come 'round here, they would ever come, blame it on my style, take a pill, don't tell me how to feel ' – _

**He stood in **her near empty room in awe, it had never been that empty, or undecorated, or clean for that matter. She hadn't noticed him yet, the music was still too loud to hear him talking. She was burrowing through the stuff in her closet, taking the necessities and throwing the rest in boxes that would be shipped later. Instead of announcing his appearance he made his way over to the closet and immersed himself in it as she was doing. She looked over to see him and a smile appeared, though she didn't acknowledge him just yet. They both continued looking through her closet, but Peyton didn't remember what she was looking for anymore, she just knew Lucas was there, and it was all that mattered.

Twenty minutes later she picked up her remote, lowering the stereo to an acceptable volume, or at least so she could hear herself think. When he heard the loud music cease he turned around and made himself comfortable on her floor in front of the closet. He leaned his back against the wood that made the frame of the small structure, she mimicked his actions so they were sitting across from each other.

Peyton was first to try to break the silence that lingered around them, "He-"

"Don't..." she gave a baffled look towards the boy who had just cut her off for no apparent reason.

He smiled, "You'll ruin it."

She let the smile appear on her face, even if it was only for a minute. The sounds of Keane played lightly in the background, it seemed haunting at the moment. They're slow melodies surrounded the two blondes, encasing them in their misery. Peyton averted her eyes from him, she glanced around the room making a mental note of other things that she wanted to take with her and the things she could leave to be shipped. He continued to stare at her, as if he wanted to burn her image in his brain, even though that had happened long before that moment.

* * *

– '_Bad news in twos, sing it from the highest hill, sing me some sad song' – _

**It was fifteen** minutes later that Brooke, Haley, Jake, and Nathan all entered Peyton's half-empty room. Lucas and Peyton had remained in their positions, they still hadn't spoken, the only difference now was that the music was a little louder. _We Might As Well Be Strangers_played through her speakers, and Peyton lost herself somewhere in her mind. _What if we become strangers? What if we don't know each other the way we do now? What if we lose everything we've gained over the past fifteen years? What if we fall apart? What if I don't understand him anymore and things fall apart?_ She was plagued with worries while her other four friends crowded her room, looking through the things she had packed. Jake and Nathan both looked sad to see her go, but Haley and Brooke looked like they were on the verge of tears. Yet, Lucas, he just continued to sit in his spot, staring at her, his eyes refused to waver as she fidgeted under his intense gaze.

"Thanks for coming," she finally spoke to the other four people in the room, the boys nodded in understand while the girls protested.

"We wanted to come..." Brooke began.

"You don't have to thank us, we would've come no matter what," Haley finished Brooke's thoughts and smile sadly at the blonde.

"Do you need any help putting your bags downstairs?" Nathan broke the girls circle of smiles as he stood near the door where her few suitcases were piled. Peyton nodded her head while the two boys grabbed two bags each, Lucas still hadn't moved. She flashed him a sad smile before following everyone out of the room, while he had no intention of moving.

They all got to the foot of the steps, Haley and Brooke were complete basket cases, but Peyton had prided herself on keeping things together. Jake and Nathan put the bags down by the door as they all scanned the emptiness of her house, a place that they had all spent a large portion of time in.

"I don't believe you're leaving," Brooke's tears were centimeters from falling but Peyton shook her head, no.

"Don't start that yet I've still got a good forty-five minutes left here, I'm going to enjoy it."

* * *

– '_Uncle Sam, playing in the sand, understand, hold my hand' – _

**Those forty-five minutes** had managed to decrease down to ten. They all sat in her living room, everyone but Lucas, it was decided that he wanted to be alone, but Peyton knew she would go to him once they all left. Brooke was the first to speak, startling them all and grabbing their attention.

"So, Blondie, I think it's time we all head out, I know Broody wants some time with you," she winked at Peyton before standing as they all followed suit.

Jake stepped up first, pulling her into a suffocating hug, "Take care of yourself, and don't get with any assholes like me," she laughed at his attempt to lighten the mood. "Have fun and you keep in touch with us small town kids," he kissed her cheek gently, then headed to the door to grab her bags and put them outside near the curb.

Nathan walked up next, also pulling her in for a hug, "It's gonna be weird here without you. But I wanted to say thanks for everything with Haley and just being a friend. I'll miss you," he flashed his trademark Scott smirk.

"I'll miss you too, Nate," she hugged him again and planted a kiss on his relatively smooth cheek. He winked at her, also walking to the door and grabbing the rest of her bags, following Jake's lead and going outside.

"P. Sawyer, I don't believe you're leaving us. Now, I'm stuck with Tutor Girl," Haley stuck her tongue out at Brooke upon hearing her words, "I don't know what I'm gonna do without you," she hugged Peyton also, holding her tightly for a minute.

"I'll call, I'll write, I'll visit, B. Davis. Don't you worry, I'm not falling off the face of the earth," her eyes watered as she remained in her friend's embrace.

"Hey, anything outside of Tree Hill is falling off the face of the earth," the brunette commented with a laugh and finally pulling away from the blonde, giving Haley room to walk up.

"Hales," Peyton said softly, seeing her friend's eyes full of tears.

"You're really leaving?" Haley whispered. Peyton nodded, the tears now burning her eyes at full force, but she fought hard to keep them back. "What am I gonna do when I fight with Nathan?"

Peyton laughed, "You've got Brooke," she nodded her head to the girl standing by the door.

"It's not the same..."

"I know, but you can call me. It's the best I can do right now," she smiled gently at her slightly shorter friend.

"Yea..." it wasn't Haley who motioned a hug like the other three had done, it was Peyton. She felt like they both needed that hug, she wrapped her arms tightly around the small girl, and Haley wiped at her tears. When they finally both pulled away they were both red eyed and Brooke laughed at their appreances.

"You two are horrible," she teased from her spot and they both stuck their tongues out at her. She laughed, walking over she wrapped an arm around Haley's shoulder, pulling her away. "C'mon Tutor Girl, let's give broody artist and broody jock some time alone," she winked at Peyton once more and walked out the front door with Haley.

* * *

– '_Time is never gonna stop running, never gonna stop. Take me to the top of the tree, don't take me for a cracked window pane' – _

**The trip up** the stairs was excruciatingly long as the tears fell down her red cheeks. When she finally peeked in her empty room he was sitting on her bed, his elbows were down on his knees while his head was balanced in his hands. She could see he was upset, and it broke her heart to know that she caused it.

"I'm sorry," she spoke so softly that he strained to hear her, and when he lifted his head his eyes were also filled with tears.

"It's not your fault," he answered, his voice was hoarse as he struggled to speak to her.

"I know...but I wish this wasn't happening," she kept her eyes trained to her shoes, she couldn't bear to look at his disheveled appearance, it hurt too much.

"Yea, me too."

A car horn sounded from the front of the house, her hand flew up to her mouth as her tears came faster, this was it.

"I can't do this," she walked away from the door that lead into her bedroom and back toward the wall on the opposite end. He stood and walked to her.

"You have to," he encouraged her, even when it was something he didn't want he managed to make her feel a tiny bit better.

"I can't leave you," she cried harder as she fell into his open arms. He held her tightly, rubbing small circles along her back to calm her down.

"We'll be okay. You'll always be my best friend, Peyt, always. You moving won't make the fifteen years disappear. I love you so much," he whispered, soothing her frazzled nerves.

"I love you too, Luke. You'll always be my best friend too," she told him gently, pulling away and furiously wiping at the tears with the back of hands.

* * *

– '_Bad news in twos, shout it from the highest hill, sing me some sad song. Don't rehearse, this is the last verse' – _

**The two blondes** stood outside, in front of the taxi her father had sent, he couldn't even get away to pick her up. The tears still ran down her cheeks, but he stood strong and somber, devoid of all emotion. He helped pile her bags in the trunk and made sure she had everything she needed - though the one thing she really needed was the one thing she was leaving - him.

Again she threw herself into his arms, she tightened her hold around his neck, her chest heaving along with her sobs. He kissed her cheek, pushing her back towards the taxi even though she shook her head vehemently, refusing to leave him.

"You have to go," he opened the door.

"I don't want to."

"We have no other choice, Peyt. Now, go ahead, get in the cab," he motioned for her to go but she shook her head again.

"Please, Peyton, don't make this any harder than it already is," he pushed her again and finally she gave in.

"Don't forget me," she spoke, getting into the large car.

"I could never forget you. This isn't the end of our friendship, it's just a bump in the road," he winked, flashing a fake smile at her. She laughed, sticking her tongue out at him as the driver pushed on the gas and sped away, taking Peyton away from Tree Hill, her house, her friends, her school, and him, forever.

* * *

**Ok, it's not exactly what I wanted but I like it. It's a little depressing as the last chapter, but the epilogue is next and that will hopefully end it the way we all want it to end, but who knows? Haha, so I hope you enjoyed this story, and I hope you got some form of enjoyment out of reading it. Stick around for the epilogue, the final ending. REVIEW!**

**Next up in the epilogue: Do they see each other ever again/ And if they do see each other, will their friendship have faded/ The full ending of the story...**


	15. Love Will Come Through

1**12 Memories**

**Author's Note:** Okay, thanks for all the reviews. I know it was a sad way to leave it, but here's the epilogue which will hopefully please you all. Here we go:

**Epilogue: Love Will Come Through**

"It was five years ago that I got in that taxi and drove away from Tree Hill. I can still remember the thoughts that plagued my mind that day, and how frustrated Lucas seemed with the world. I can still remember his scent when he wrapped his arms around me and pushed me into the car that afternoon. We all had made it a point to keep in touch, but after three years we all set off to different colleges, and our friendships faded. I still talk to Haley every few months, she went off to college in Boston, it was the best place for her to be, full of history. She told me she and Nathan had broken things off mutually when he went to Duke for basketball, though they remained in contact and met up when he got the time off. She also said she had been talking to Jake a little, I still had hope she and Nathan would get back together after college. Lucas also went to Duke with Nate, it was the perfect place for the two of them to be, all about basketball and I know it was a big piece of why Lucas was able to keep going after I left. A year ago, the news came in a letter that he had left Duke, it was shocking to say the least, but Haley said he was starting a sports store in Lafayette, and now that I think about it, it was probably better for Lucas at that point in his life. I could never put my finger on why we lost touch, and the only time I heard from him was when I called every year in June on the anniversary of my mother's death. I'm not sure why I called every year, mostly I think it was just to hear his voice, it was always comforting. He knew it was me every year, and being Lucas he would talk to me for a while, never expecting a response, he just talked about his life and how he missed our friendship, and it was three months after Lucas returned to Tree Hill that I headed back to retrieve my father's body from Georgia, one of the worst and best days of my life."

* * *

– '_If I told you a secret, you won't tell a soul, would you hold it and keep it alive. Cause it's burning a hole and I can't get to sleep, and I can't live alone in this lie' – _

**Peyton spoke slowly** to the reporter in front of her. Everything still seemed so surreal about her life, she was in an entirely different place than she ever thought she would be.It had been five weeks before that she received a phone call from the magazine, wanting to do an interview on one of the most talented women of the last year.

She had sat down with the reporter forty-five minutes ago, her name was Emily Brown, and she had informed Peyton of the personal questions she would be asking. In Emily's words she would need to dig into Peyton's past to reach her future to see how she got to be the woman she is.So, Emily had told her to start from the beginning, and she did, she began her story from before she was born, back to when her parents were only in high school and had just met Lucas's parents.

She took Emily through how she hated Lucas as a baby, and up to when her mother died. As her story progressed she moved through her relationship with Lucas and how she was with Jake for so long. She retold the painful past of Brooke and Jake's lack of loyalty and around the corner to when she and Lucas kissed. She then told of how she left Tree Hill, skipped the last uneventful four years to get to her father's funeral.

* * *

– '_So look up, take it away, don't look da-da-da down the mountain. If the world isn't turning, your heart won't return anyone, anything, anyhow' – _

**Emily sat pensively **in her chair, scribbling down notes as Peyton waited for her to catch up with what she was saying before continuing with her life story. Emily looked up at the blonde, watching as Peyton seemed to float off into her memories.

"Peyton...Peyton?"

"Huh? What?" the petite girl shook her head slightly, shaking off the old memories she had fallen into and flashing a smile at the girl in front of her.

Emily chuckled, "Your father's funeral...you were saying?"

"Right, right. Um, it was a year ago that I got that phone call. I can remember almost every detail of laying in my messy apartment in New York, I had only just finished college the year before so I still didn't have everything figured out, I mean even now I don't have everything figured out. But I had always been into art as I said earlier, so I had just sketch books scattered all over the place and when the phone rang I took quite a few minutes to find it, I almost missed the call all together, but when I answered, boy did I get a reality check..."

"_Is this Ms. Sawyer?"_

"_Yes, it is. Who's this?"_

"_This is the city morgue in Savannah, Georgia.. We regretfully inform you that we have your father's body here, there was a storm just off the coast...he asked to be buried in Tree Hill in his will. We need you to come down here and then organize whatever you need to be done for the funeral and transporting him back to Tree Hill, North Carolina…Ms. Sawyer?"

* * *

_

_- 'If the world isn't turning, your heart won't return anyone, anything, anyhow' - _

"I had begun to shake as soon as I heard morgue, I already knew exactly what he had to tell me and by the time he finished I was trembling on the couch. I didn't know where to go, who to turn to…I'd never really made any worthwhile friends where I was living in New York. I mean, well of course I had friends, but none like the people I'd spent a vast majority of my life with in Tree Hill, never anyone like Lucas."

"I had to leave everything, my life in New York and head down to Georgia. I didn't exactly make it to Georgia without going through Tree Hill…and without being in contact with Lucas for the first time in five years, besides the annual phone calls on my mother's anniversary. It was one in the morning when I got on the road, on the way towards Georgia. And it was four o'clock in the morning when my cell phone rang with an unavailable number blinking on the caller ID."

"_Who the hell can this be?" my voice filled the empty car, the only other sound was the Ryan Adams CD I had left in there from days before. Living in New York didn't allow me to drive much, but I kept the car for…well I don't know why I kept the car._

"_Hello?" I know my voice sounded miserable, and to tell you the truth I was on the verge of tears for most of the ride. Being left alone in my thoughts was never safe, and most of the time my thoughts would drift to the times I spent with my father when I was a little girl._

"_Peyt?" the name flowed smoothly out of his throat, a name only he'd used for me when we were younger, and I'd always taken it as a sign of some sort of affection._

"_L-Lucas?"_

"I drove down to North Carolina in that next day, and I spent most of the ride on the phone with him…he told me he didn't trust me to make the trip by myself, but I think that was only part of it. I can tell you now I sure as hell didn't want to get off the phone with him, he was my best friend for most of my life and I hadn't seen or talked to him years. It was a good way to catch up, and after that ride I still remember the excitement when I pulled up in front of his house and saw him sitting on the porch with the phone up to his ear, talking to me still."

"_So, this weird car just pulled up in front of my house…there's this girl that totally reminds me of you, except her hair is darker, she looks older than you too. Her car actually reminds me of the one you drove, the resemblance is crazy…" he chuckled slightly on the other end of the line, while I smiled at his figure on the porch._

"_Yea, I know what you mean. I actually just pulled up in front of this house that reminds me of the one you lived in, and there's this really **old** guy on the porch sitting on a rocking chair. He's got a beard and he totally reminds me of you…except for he's so old…" I had laughed hysterically at his reaction that day, and in keeping the phone to my ear I opened the car door as he sprinted from the porch down to my car. _

_I didn't know what to expect when he reached me, but he pulled me into his arms like we hadn't just spent five years apart, and I don't think I'll ever be able to explain the feeling I got when he held me that day…it was like my whole childhood came rushing back to me in that instant and I had this overwhelming feeling of love when I was in his arms. That same smell that I had tried so hard to remember for so long was surrounding me and I didn't want him to let me go that day._

"_God, I missed you," his whisper sent shivers down my spine, and it was right then that I knew the feeling that he had been trying to describe…and I knew that I wasn't leaving Tree Hill again, my mind was already made up._

"_I missed you too…so much."_

_- So take me, don't leave me. Take me, don't leave me. Baby, love with come through, it's just waiting for you' – _

"We spent the next few hours catching up, and we both tip toed around the subject of my father and those last few weeks from five years ago. And for a while I did forget, I was always able to forget everything when I was with Lucas..."

"_So, how's Nathan and Haley holding up?"_

"_They're actually engaged. Turns out she was talking to Jake for a little while, but that fizzled out pretty quickly. Her and Nathan met back up after she finished college and moved back, as did he. He's actually helping me out with the store right now…it's cool to be working with him. He proposed a few weeks ago, I'm kind of surprised Haley didn't tell you, she told me you two were in touch…"_

"_I'm sorry, Luke," I heard the tone in his voice as he said that last sentence and I was overcome with guilt about the situation. But at the time my logic had been that it would have been too hard to talk to Lucas all the time and not be able to be near him. Honestly, at the time when I left my feelings toward him had begun to change…and I hated myself for trying so hard to deny him and then finally when I was leaving I was opening up for him. _

"_Don't be…I understand, it's not a big deal. All that matters now is that you're here with me, and that I get to hang with my best friend and we're going on a road trip," his smile grew, and he extended his hand for a high five. It was then that I began to wonder if he had forgotten about what he had felt for me, if he forgot about the kiss that had nearly torn our friendship apart, or if he just didn't feel that way for me anymore. _

"_Yea, woo! Road trip," my smile was completely fake and plastered, and I was pretty sure he noticed, but he said nothing._

"_So, we leaving now?"_

"_Yea, sure, let's go…"_

"God, that day was hard. My mind was reeling, I was wondering what he felt for me now, if those five years apart had made his feelings for me fade, and it was depressing because at that moment I don't think I had ever wanted him more…and I guess I kind of knew his pain when I told him I didn't feel what he felt…"

"You two had a rocky friendship, huh?" Emily questioned the girl in front of her, admiring the brunette for all she accomplished and all the pain she had to endure to be the person she was today.

"Well…I wouldn't say rocky up until we were sixteen. Mostly because everything had been so platonic up until then, and that was when the complications started. And even then, when I went back to Tree Hill it was easy to go along with it and pretend I wanted friendship from him, and it was so easy to pick up where we left off. "

"So, what happened on the car ride?" Emily knew she was completely off topic, that she didn't really need to know what happened on the car ride, but some time ago she had lost all focus for the interview and got up in the love story between two best friends.

"Well, the car ride was interesting…the car ride was when we got into everything we had been trying so hard to avoid…"

"_Soooo, how's the store making out?" I didn't really know what to say to him, we had spent so much time apart that I didn't know where to begin…and he seemed to sense that._

"_It's actually doing really good…to tell you the truth I didn't expect it to, but it's growing and more people are finding out about it, so I think it's gonna make it. Or at least I hope so anyway."_

"_That's really good, Luke. I'm happy for you. Any girlfriends?" I wiggled my eyebrows, trying to make it a playful question instead of me prying for information, and he laughed along…I'm still not sure if he knew what I was trying to do at the time._

"_Uh, let's see…I had one in a period of five years…pretty pathetic, huh?" I smiled at him, mostly because my faith had been boosted that maybe he still felt the same way._

"_Not really…I'm right there with you. One guy, and he wasn't even really a boyfriend…he was kind of more of a month of make-out sessions," I smiled sheepishly thinking I was going to get a lecture on how I wasn't that kind of girl but Lucas just laughed and shook his head at me._

"_Yea…mine only lasted about two months," he seemed somewhat embarrassed with the way his life was turning out._

"_Wasn't what you expected?"_

"_What wasn't?"_

"_Life?" he looked down at his large hands…he looked like he was in deep thought._

"_Well…I sorta had a plan, only it didn't work out the way I wanted after you left…nothing worked out the way I wanted after you left…" and with that sentence I was pretty sure his feeling were as strong as ever._

"_Sorry for ruining things," I nudged him with my elbow, smiling and he smirked at me._

"_Eh…just five years wasted…not a huge deal."

* * *

_

_- 'And you stand at the crossroads of high roads and low roads. And I've got a feeling it's right' – _

**Peyton looked thoughtful** as she returned from her distant memories, and Emily looked like she pitied the young girl before her.

"I don't believe I'm telling you all of this…I'm glad my whole personal life is going to be printed in this magazine for the entire world to read," Peyton gave a small laugh, and Emily made a decision.

"Look, I'll keep this all off the record…or well most of it. I'll take what I need for the interview and nothing else on one condition…"

"Name it."

"Can you finish the story?" Peyton laughed at the reporter in front of her, she was glad she got a girl who was able to sympathize about not having it all printed, and she was glad she got someone who was more interested in the story, it was kind of like a soap opera now that she thought about it.

"I'll finish the story. Let's get to the drama, down at the morgue in Georgia…fun times."

"_Are you sure you're ready?"_

"_Well, even if I wasn't I don't really have a choice here. He's my father, I have to do this…just thanks for coming…" my words were completely sincere, I was so unbelievably thankful that he had wanted to come to support me in this._

"_Hey, it may have been five years, but you're still my best friend, I'd do anything for you, Peyt," and there was that name, the one I had been longing to hear for five years._

_I didn't respond to that statement, I just walked in and without question he took my hand, following behind me, into the building of death, or at least that's how I had always looked at it. Just the smell of the building made me want to gag, and when I saw the grim face of the man by the table I wanted to turn and run…that was my father on that table under the blanket. The man who had done his best to raise me after my mother died…and I felt a flash of moments with him running through my mind. I had the worst feeling in the pit of my stomach as I approached the guy who I viewed as the man I wanted to blame for my father's death._

"_I'm going to assume you're Ms. Sawyer?"_

"_You assumed right," I snapped back, my tone was cold and uninviting, but I got the feeling this guy was used to it by now…when someone dies and you have no one to blame for it, you're forced to find someone. And this guy, being the person who unveils your dead loved one, was the easiest one to blame._

"_Okay, I'm gonna make this quick…I have identification that it's your father, so you have to sign here, and here…I'll pull the cover back so you can confirm it…if you feel the need you can go outside and get yourself together after…but I do need you to come back and sign one final line then you can figure out transportation and whatnot," his voice was deep, and he seemed friendly enough, but I wanted nothing to do with him._

_I snatched the clipboard with the papers from his hand, and Lucas stood by watching, the loyal friend that he was. I could feel the tears burning behind my eyes, but I did my best to choke them back…reality was beginning to sink in that I would never see my father again or hear his voice. It was the same type of feeling I had when my mother died…like things didn't really hit until the times I needed her and I knew she wasn't ever going to be there._

_Finally, the guy, who's name was Jeff questioned if I was ready. Yea, that was a great question to ask someone who was just about to view their father on a slab of metal in a morgue...what an ass. Would I ever be ready for that moment? But I nodded my head anyway and Lucas stood back just slightly to give me space. I think he was already expecting my reaction as the cover was pulled back._

_Seeing my father was the most surreal experience of my life, I half expected him to sit up and smile at me, calling me his little girl again. But then as I got past that fantasy I came to see what was really there…a cold hard shell of who he had once been, because everything I loved about him was gone and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about that._

_I felt my nerves kick in again as my body began to tremble and the tears came down rapidly…the image of my father laying there has never left my mind, and I don't think it ever will. I could feel the shaking getting worse and Lucas seemed worried from where he stood but I didn't know what to do about it. I had to get out, so I took off at a run, out of the death building and into the parking lot where I immediately collapsed to the cement, shaking and crying hysterically._

_I heard his footsteps coming out after me…I could tell he was worried from the way he grabbed my trembling body and held me close to him. My chest was heaving against him, I couldn't catch my breath enough to get a hold of myself...everything was just happening too quickly, my life with my father was flashing before my eyes, and my time with Lucas was passing by me. _

_I was gonna lose him if I didn't show him what I felt. If I didn't let him know that I loved him, that I needed him for the rest of my life because he was the only person who didn't leave, who had never hurt me. I never told my Dad what he meant to me, and now that he was gone I knew I would never have the chance, but Lucas was right there in front of me. Lucas had always been right there in front of me and if I didn't take the risk I'd lose him too.

* * *

_

_- 'If it's real what I'm feeling, there's no make believing, the sound of the wings of the flight of a dove. Take it away, don't look da-da-da-down the mountain' – _

_**Eventually I was** able to get myself together enough to go back into that dreaded building…I signed the last line while Jeff looked at me with sad eyes. But I didn't want his pity, he didn't know me, no one knew me the way Lucas did. God, I was such an ass, I had wasted so much time…so much time denying what I felt because I wanted to save our friendship. When it finally occurred to me that I wouldn't lose him – what I felt for him was real, and it was something you only get once in a lifetime._

_I didn't have the courage to tell him there, so instead we got back in the car and conveniently it got dark pretty quickly, and we ended up in a motel with one bed and no tv. We were stuck with each other this time, and we were forced to confront what happened between us all those years ago and what we were still feeling._

"_So, how come…how come you only had one boyfriend over a period of five years?" he seemed hesitant to ask as he lay next to me on the queen sized bed. We were both avoiding each other's eyes – he was fiddling with his watch, while I absentmindedly picked at my fingers._

"_I dunno…how come you only had one girlfriend in five years?" _

"_Probably the same reason you only had one boyfriend," I could easily see the trap we were falling into, picking at these flaws while neither of us would give a straight answer. So, instead of going back and forth I brought up something different._

"_If you loved me so much when I left, why didn't you come after me at all?" I knew the question had caught him off guard but it was a question I'd held onto for those five years. A question that made me doubt what he felt for me at the time._

"_Because…because you spent so much time turning me down and telling me you didn't feel that way and you wouldn't cross that line. I guess my ego was bruised and I told myself I wouldn't come all that way to be turned down again…it hurt too much to feel that way and not have those feelings reciprocated," and I knew where he was coming from._

"_I'm sorry for all that…" he turned towards me, finally meeting my eyes._

"_Yea, me too. You want the truth?" I shook my head, keeping the eye contact with him. "I haven't had a girlfriend in five years because of you…it's not because I wasn't approached, because I had girls coming after me and I turned them down telling myself they just weren't good enough…and I guess that's the partial truth because they're weren't. They weren't you, and you were who I wanted for so long," the past tense of everything he used deflated my spirit but I felt it was time to at least try to confess._

"_Who was your first?" okay, so I chickened out, but I wanted to know where he stood after all those years and the only way I could do that was to know these small things…or maybe I was just curious, either way I had to know._

"_Brooke…my first and last…" he seemed embarrassed by that, but it gave me relief…it made me feel like he didn't ever want anyone else. "How about you?"_

"_Um, I haven't…yet. I mean, it's not that I didn't want to, it's just the right person never really came along. And it's not like I'm old…I mean I'm only 21, plenty of people have waited longer than that. Right? I mean…Ijust –"_

"_Peyt...Peyt!"_

"_Yea?"_

"_You're rambling. Chill out, it's not a big deal, I was just wondering," he smiled at me…and I felt weak all over again. _

_It was a half hour later and we were still talking about that week when everything changed. When he confessed to me what he felt, when he kissed me for the first and last time. The conversation had turned serious and he was prying, we both knew it._

"_I've always had a hard time letting people in, you of all people know that. And I guess after Jake I was so scared to let anyone else in, I think that's mostly why I never had another relationship after him…and I know it wasn't fair to you, but I just couldn't pull myself together enough to give myself to you…"_

"_And what if the situation had happened now? Would you have been able to let me in now?" his questions were beginning to scare me, I knew where he was going with it all._

"_Probably," my voice had lowered to a soft whisper, the room was dark and there was a dim light from the bathroom shining towards the bed. It was winter, there was a light snow falling outside but it didn't phase either of us as our eyes locked._

"_What's the real reason, Peyt?" I wanted so badly to act confused, like I didn't know what he was talking about, but my heart answered for me._

"_None of those guys who tried to get to me were you…and the truth is…the right person came along when I was two years old…I've just been too scared to admit it to myself until now…and I feel like we wasted a lot of time…" my voice was still as soft as it had ever been and his eyes softened dramatically at me. _

"_It wasn't that much time…I think we can make up for it," he smiled just slightly as his face neared mine. It was strange having him so close all of a sudden, because we had never been that way. It was a new, exhilarating feeling and it took over my body as my eyes closed in instinct, and my lips met his. The chemistry between us was undeniable, it always had been…I'd never been kissed that way…I'd never felt so much love pour through in one kiss, it was a kiss that made up for years of want and longing and desperation that I think we'd both felt. And even though I imagined that moment it blew me away, just the same.

* * *

_

_- 'If the world isn't turning, your heart won't return anyone, anything, anyhow' – _

"And I guess you can figure out what happened from there, and the rest is history, " Peyton's smile was wide as she reflected on that night, and Emily looked pretty happy with the outcome of things for the girl she had interviewed.

"Thanks for the interview, Peyton. I'm glad things turned out the way you wanted, good luck with everything, you're very talented too," Emily stood shaking the brunette's hand, turning away. Peyton stood and headed outside to her car where she finished her thoughts of that fateful night.

_So maybe we weren't each other's first kisses, and maybe I wasn't even his first time…but I knew that things were finally turning out right, for the first time. The kisses grew more passionate between us, his mouth was moving down along my neck, making me feel things I had never felt before because I had never really gone that far with anyone before. Before I had time to process things my shirt and pants were on the floor beneath us and I was blushing unbelievably under his ever-present stare. He smiled at me, whispering about how beautiful he thought I was, how I always had been in his eyes. He was my best friend and I was finally about to take that step with the one person who mattered the most in life._

_Slowly he slipped the remainder of my clothes off, also helping me remove his boxers. He took a condom from his wallet, we both knew I didn't want to get pregnant on my first time out. He was gentle as he moved in on me, pushing slowly so he didn't hurt me. I could feel an intense pain, and my eyes filled with tears._

"_It'll pass," he promised, and I nodded my head, and from those words there was no one else I wanted to give that moment to. No one else I would ever give that moment to. His kisses were feather soft against my skin, he began to move slowly as I adjusted to his rhythm and the pleasure replaced the pain. Not long after we both collapsed in exhaustion, he looked at me in adoration, whispering the few words I'd be waiting to hear from someone my entire life._

"_I love you, Peyt…always have."_

"_I love you too."

* * *

_

_- 'So take me don't leave me. Take me, don't leave me. Baby, love will come through, it's just waiting for you' –_

**Peyton pulled into** the driveway and walked into the house. She smelled food which led her towards the kitchen and to the man she had spent the last year with.

"Hey," she chirped and he turned with a smile.

"Hello," she kissed his cheek, checking the mail and flipping through a few letters. "Shouldn't you be getting ready?" she questioned the man in front of her.

"Probably, but the shower's lonely," he pouted, giving her a face he knew she wasn't able to reist.

"Everyone else can take shower's by themselves…"

"Everyone else hasn't had the pleasure of you in the shower with them," he winked, grabbing her by the waist and carrying her with him to the bathroom as she squealed. "We've got an hour until we have to be at the church for Haley and Nathan…and we've got a lot of lost time to make up for."

* * *

**So, I'm sorry it took like 80 years to update this and finally finish it. I hope it was an okay ending…I did my best. I couldn't figure out how I wanted to end it, I considered a sad ending but all in all, I loved this story and I needed to see it end happily. I hope you were okay with it. Anywho, I know it's long and filled with stuff, but I hope you enjoyed it, and the story as a whole and I hope you'll review for me! The song was, "Love Will Come Through."**

**The End.**


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